A Day in the Life of Crime
by wellthizizdeprezzing
Summary: Cinder, a notorious crime boss, has captured the pure, sweet Ruby Rose for her own entertainment. But is Ruby really as innocent as she seems? Crime AU/ Crack fic
1. Chapter 1

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter One: Whose Been Stealing from the Cookie Jar?

"Well, well," Cinder clicked her tongue as she spoke at a languorous pace, her action of circling in front of the captive girl matching her slow words. She was in an interrogation room, the lights dim and only exit locked to keep the two occupants in it from leaving before answers were extracted. "Look who got caught with her hands in the cookie jar." Cinder stopped at this, the click clack of her black stilettos coming to a stop as she appraised the valiantly struggling girl in the chair. Her hands were tied with steel chains in the back and her legs pinned one leg to each chair leg with steel chain as well. The chains rattled as she squeezed her eyes shut and wrought her shoulders forwards in effort to loosen the bonds holding her.

"Couldn't resist could you, Ruby Rose?" Cinder poised the question, her elegant brow arching upwards. Ruby Rose paused in her actions to send the villainess a glare. Her anger looked out of place on her childish face, her face too cute for such ugly emotions.

"I only wanted one cookie. I wasn't going to take all of them," she pouted at the injustice of the situation.

"Really?" Cinder arched her other brow up, leaning forwards on the gray steel table that separated the space between her and Ruby. She didn't believe the younger girl for a second.

"Yes!" Ruby insisted, nodding her head frantically up and down. "It was just for a snack."

Cinder smirked her full lips at this. "And now it is _you_ who has become the snack, Ruby Rose," Cinder drawled, rolling her r's on the girl's name. She picked up the item that had been laid out flat on the table. It was stiff and made of leather. A riding crop. Cinder snapped it in her hand and it hit the palm of her gloved hand with a loud noise, one that startled Ruby.

"Uh, what are you...going to do with that?" the girl asked, clearly uncomfortable with the object in Cinder's hand.

"You let me worry about that," Cinder approached the younger girl, absorbing the rising fear in her eyes with delight. She couldn't help from licking her lips in anticipation of what was to come. "In the meantime you should be thinking over your actions and reflecting on what you did wrong. On how one shouldn't steal from the leader of one of Remnant's most dangerous gangs."

"I didn't know, okay," Ruby insisted with panic in her voice as Cinder slipped the tip of the riding crop under her chin and lifted her head up. "If I had known I wouldn't have done it!"

"Do I look like I care?" Cinder asked softly.

"I-"

There was a loud crack. The crop was no longer under Ruby's chin but instead hovering in the air a couple inches away from where it had struck the young girl across the cheek. Her skin, so soft, young and pale, reddened under the strike.

It took the girl a while to realize she had been struck, her mouth still forming the words she was to say before she had been roughly hit. When she realized what had happened, her eyes filled with unshed tears and she bit her lip to stop the sting.

Cinder took this time to rub the offended cheek, stretching the skin out under her gloved hand. How good to be young, for flesh to be so malleable. It could take a lot of damage before scarring occurred. And when it did, it then marred the skin, staying until the later years.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. If you wanted an apology, you have it," Ruby said, trying to hold back her sniffles.

"I don't want your apologizes, Ruby. It's a bit too late for that," Cinder bent her head so she could whisper this into the girl's ear. "The only thing I want is your body, bent and broken at my hand as you lay panting with spent breath, begging me to stop, begging me to-" Cinder ran the tip of the riding crop down the girl's chest until it hit the apex of her thighs, slipping under her skirt.

The girl squirmed in her chains and there was a groan as metal twisted but her bonds held. "And what do you mean, by saying all those things?" Ruby asked innocently, although she was getting closer to noting what exactly Cinder meant.

"Shall I spell it out?" Cinder continued to whisper into the girl's ear, small shivers rocking her body as the older woman's riding crop played with her under her skirt. "I want to fu-"

Before Cinder could get to finish, the chains that had contained Ruby finally snapped and she lunged out of her seat, her hands wrapping around the older woman's shoulders. Cinder's eyes widened and her mouth opened to shout out to her bodyguards outside the door that the prisoner had freed herself of stainless steel chains when warm lips assaulted her own. Cinder took a step back, to detach herself from the sudden attack, but the force of Ruby's momentum caused her to misstep and her heel slipped, causing her to fall backwards with the smaller girl still attached to her by the lips.

Cinder's head smacked against the hard floor and she let out a dizzying groan as Ruby finally pulled free to let the older woman breath. "Whoops, I didn't mean to do that," Ruby giggled and scratched her head in embarrassment. She was sitting on Cinder, straddling her by the hips to the floor.

"Ruby, those were stainless steel chains. How did you break out of them?" Cinder was aghast. How strong was this girl? "We've already tried rope, metal, barbed wire-and you keep breaking out of all of them. How are we supposed to do this villain/ helpless captive roleplay if you can't stay captured?"

Ruby let out a little apologetic chuckle. "Sorry. I forget my own strength sometimes. But it's not my fault. You're just too tempting to resist." At this Ruby leaned down to kiss Cinder once more and the woman let her. "You know just what to say to get me excited." Ruby's hands began to explore the older woman's chest area through the fabric of the thin dress and Cinder let her eyes close at the pleasant sensation.

When their lips pulled apart Cinder spoke. "I'm still going to use the crop on you. You certainly have been very naughty to deserve it." She pulled herself into a half sitting position.

Ruby's eyes darkened at this. "You better. I didn't go stealing all those cookies just to get away with one slap."

"It was going to be more, but _someone..._ " Cinder rolled her eyes as she trailed off, the short haired girl getting the point. "I already said I was sorry. I just can't stop myself when I'm around you!" the girl pouted and nuzzled Cinder's slender neck in an effort to appease the other.

The woman let her eyes close at this sensation before she turned Ruby's head so she could look into lust heavy silver eyes. "Should we get back into the roleplay?"

"Nah," Ruby said, her lips drawing nearer to Cinder's. "I already got you onto the floor." And then using her abnormal strength she pushed the other down, ripping the front of her shirt apart in one motion. She was greeted by the sight of a Cinder wearing a very lacy and seductive red bra, her breasts practically spilling out of it. Ruby could feel her mouth water at the sight of it and before she could actually do so much as unclasp the bra, the door to the room opened up to admit one gray haired boy with prosthetic robotic legs.

He noted the two's position on the floor and flushed red but decided to foolishly go on with delivering his message. "Uh, sorry to interrupt but-"

"Get out!" Ruby snarled out at the gang worker who had come into the room, holding the door open halfway.

"But boss, it's an emergency. The Faunas-"

"I said get out!"

"But there's a fight!"

"What did I tell you about interrupting me during sexy times?"

"To never do it, unless I wanted to lose something," he repeated what she had said, slightly blanching as he recalled it. Still he had an important message to deliver. "Boss-," the man was insistent.

With a growl, Ruby got off of Cinder and walked over to the door. "Out!" He scampered away, not willing to be near her when she looked this angry. Then she kicked the door in so hard that it wedged in the doorway, crumpled in on itself. It was now impossible to open the door unless one possessed a crane to pull it out with. Ruby let out a sigh and then turned back to Cinder, rolling her shoulders back in an effort to calm herself.

"Now, where were we?"

"You were in the middle of ravishing me, boss," Cinder said with a small smile. She loved it when people interrupted Ruby. Then they started losing fingers and eyes. Mercury was lucky he was half robot and couldn't lose anything more of value. It also made Ruby rougher during their amorous moments which was something Cinder greatly appreciated.

"That's right. And just call me Ruby. You're the boss here now," the brunette said before she rejoined Cinder on the floor.

 **A/N: Well, this is something different from what I usually write. These scenes are something that comes later in my stories. But I decided I wanted to switch things up a bit, thus this fanfic. The material is also different from what I work with. Slightly hinting at BDSM. It might also do well to add that this has ooc Ruby, sort of a dark!Ruby story, if that makes more sense. But anyways, to get to the point of this author's note, this story will be a sort of series of crime fic related drabbles. A place I can post short stories when I'm not working on some other story or another. There will be fluff in the story, with the main focus on the ship between Ruby and Cinder. As for lemons, *shrugs,* depends on what happens. For now the rating will remain T unless I decide to switch it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter Two: Ruby's Grand Goals for the Grimm Gang

* * *

Ruby Rose dunked one half of her palm sized chocolate chip cookie into a glass of cold milk before she bit into it, her legs swinging back and forth under the table of the local bakery in childish delight. "Man, I'm so glad I'm the boss of one of the biggest gangs in Remnant. Now I can buy all the bakeries in the world I want! Cookies for days!" Ruby exclaimed joyfully, taking another big bite of her cookie and closing her eyes in pleasure at the delightful texture on her tongue.

Cinder, who was sitting across the table, chin propped in her hand as she watched Ruby eat, let a small smile grace her lips. She loved watching the girl when it came time to eat her cookies. She was the very epitome of childish innocence and cuteness, not that she wasn't cute on a regular basis doing whatever task she'd be doing, mundane or otherwise. "How many more bakeries do you have to buy out before you own all of them?"

"About three dozen more, I think," Ruby answered thoughtfully as she reached for another cookie from the plate of thirty cookies she had ordered. "Once I own them all then I'm going to rename them Ruby's Bake Shop, starting a chain store franchise. And we'll sell the best cookies worldwide! I'll make tons of money. And the best part will be that I will get to eat them for free since they'll be my cookie company." Her enthusiasm for this was endearing and Cinder couldn't help but smile once more at the girl's future goals for the gang.

"Maybe you should buy out the flour and sugar factories all over Remnant as well. That way you'll only have the best ingredients for your baking process," Cinder offered helpfully, picking up a cookie from the plate and taking a dainty bite of it. The chocolate chips just melted in her mouth and she enjoyed the gooey texture of the dessert. It was the only other snack besides Ruby that she really enjoyed this much. It was probably because she associated Ruby with cookies, thus when she ate the sweet goods she was reminded of her boss.

"I've never thought of that before!" Ruby said with a gasp. "Thanks for bringing it up. I can't make the best cookies without the best ingredients. Put that on the agenda for next week, Cinder. We'll start taking over all the flour and sugar industries in the city. And then we'll spread from there, and take over the other baked good related factories," the brunette instructed, reaching for yet another cookie.

"Sure thing," Cinder reached for the Scroll in her pants pocket and put that on the list of things Ruby wanted to do, right next to finishing a season of Cake Boss, cuddling with Cinder, and having a slumber party with the henchmen. Putting it away she asked, "do you have any other store you'd like to hit up this day? What about checking out some of the bakeries we have yet to conquer and start terrorizing them so that we can soften them up for our eventual takeover?"

"That sounds like a plan. I was going to put it off but now that I think about it, it probably wouldn't be smart to do that. Recently the bakeries have been targeted. Already two bakeries have been snatched up from right under my nose." At this Ruby's expression turned a bit dark as she glanced into the cup of milk on the table before her, imagining her enemies faces swirling in it. "And I won't lose to my competition anymore."

"You're talking about Sweet Tooth Nora and Reticent Ren?" Cinder asked gently, not wanting to rile Ruby up more than she already was. She liked a mad Ruby, it made her more feisty in bed, but they were in public right now and she didn't want Ruby to go on a rampage and thoughtlessly slaughter those in the vicinity. It wouldn't be good for business.

"Yes." This time Ruby took a harsh bite of her cookie, gnashing the dough in between her teeth. "They've been purposefully getting in my way, halting my plans for complete world domination of bakeries. Their too brazen. But I won't let them get anymore from me. I'll nab those stores before they do," Ruby promised vehemently and finished up her cookie, reaching for another one and shoving it into her mouth, then another and another. Cinder arched a brow, watching the girl stress eat. Ruby wasn't even enjoying the cookies anymore, just shoving them in as she angrily ranted. "And then they'll have no choice but to give up when they see they've been out maneuvered. In fact, how dare they even try to challenge me in the first place."

At this Cinder placed a gentle hand on Ruby's outstretched hand on the table that had curled into a fist. Her other hand stopped, cookie mid-air. "Ruby, be calm. Don't worry too much about it. I'm sure you'll have no issues getting what you want."

Ruby let out a sigh, composing herself. After a second or two she was back to her normal smiling self. "You're right Cinder. I shouldn't worry. Nora's and Ren's gang are crumbs of the cookie, while we're the whole cookie. I shouldn't let them spoil my appetite." At this Ruby began to eat her cookies more slowly, enjoying them once more.

Cinder retracted her hand and let Ruby focus back on her snacks, her legs swinging under the table once more in joy. But the girl's calm was shortly interrupted by her Scroll going off. "Now what?" she grumbled, looking at the caller id and frowning.

"Mercury, what did I tell you about interrupting me during cookie time?" she admonished her henchman.

"Uh, to not interrupt it unless I wanted to be flattened like a cookie," Mercury repeated something that his boss had told him countless times. He shivered as he said this but he had something important to convey and so went on with the call. "But this is important, boss, I swear."

"What could be more important than me enjoying my cookies in peace?" Ruby huffed.

"Nothing, nothing!" Mercury stammered to answer. "But this is about your bakeries!"

Ruby, who had been on the verge of hanging up with the retort of, "exactly, nothing is more important so stop bothering me!" was paused by his comment about the bakeries. "What did you say?" she asked, holding her Scroll closer to her ear.

"Boss, their under attack!"

"Under attack?" Ruby asked, her brows rising in concern.

"Yea. You remember the one we just bought? The one directly in front of that rival gang's one? Well, yea, that's the one that's getting attacked right now. Two criminals are smashing the glass and making away with all your cookies!"

"No," Ruby's voice was a horrified whisper. "Have you sent forces to apprehend them?" Cinder watched with worry as Ruby's face paled. What was the news that was being delivered to her? It looked really bad.

"We have, but boss," Mercury seemed a bit sheepish at this. "We kind of suck and need help. The two criminals are super powerful. And they have wicked cool and dangerous weapons. We aren't anywhere near their cool and wicked level. So our asses are getting kicked!"

"Who are the two criminals?" Ruby asked, her voice now getting dangerously low and her free hand curling up back in anger. She had a sneaking suspicion of who they were but she wanted to be sure so that she could bring her A game to the fight.

"One's a girl with orange hair and a huge sledge hammer. She's also prone to laughing gleefully. And the other is a tall Asian boy with a purple highlight in his hair."

"It's them," Ruby said more to Cinder than to Mercury. The older woman nodded her head in understanding. Then to the boy on the phone Ruby said, "I'll be on my way. Don't worry. I'll protect my cookies!" She then hung up on Mercury's relieved sigh and picked up the glass of milk, chugging it in one go. She set it down with a clunk on the table, her hand tightening around it. "It's Sweet Tooth Nora and Reticent Ren. Their outright targeting my stores now. I won't allow them to get away with this." Ruby stood up, her red cloak swirling around her. She cast a sad look at the unfinished plate of cookies. She would have to finish them later.

"Get them wrapped up and delivered to me later," Ruby instructed Cinder as she strode towards the door.

"Wait, I want to go with you," Cinder said as she got up from her seat too.

Ruby shook her head, a no on her lips. "This is something I need to handle myself. It's me they are taunting, me they want to fight. Beside, I don't want you to get hurt. After all, your safety and health are the reason why I do this, Cinder." Then with a small smile, Ruby brushed out of the store, the little bell on the doorway jingling merrily as she exited.

Cinder let out a sigh, shaking her head. That girl. She could be very fixed on something when she allowed herself to be. Cinder then turned on her heel, after she could no longer track Ruby's progress from the store's wide glass window front, and waved down a store employee so that he could wrap the cookies up to go.

 **A/N: So I decided to expand upon this little world the two girls are abiding in. Next chapter will be a continuation of this chapter. But most chapters will not necessarily be continuations, just more of sporadic scenes, although they will more or less be in a linear time frame unless otherwise mentioned. If you guys have requests for any characters from the RWBY world that you would like to see in these drabbles then feel free to comment in the reviews and I'll try to come up with a story for them and add them.**


	3. Chapter 3

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter Three: Sweet Tooth Nora and Reticent Ren

* * *

An orange haired woman, holding up a massive sledgehammer over her head with her right hand, let out an evil laugh of triumphant. She was standing on top of a bakery, in front of her a scene of absolute chaos. Members of the Grimm gang unit lay unconscious across the street in various funny positions. The black cars they had arrived in were stalled as well, with dents on their hoods that suspiciously looked sledgehammer shaped, and their glass windows shattered, doors half open as they idled, smoke steaming up from their busted hoods. No one could stop her as she took over this bakery. She already owned the one across the street, but now with this one demolished, the employees scared away, and all goods either ruined or captured, the place was as good as hers.

"Is this the best the Grimm gang has to offer?" she jeered from her high perch. "I would think they would have more man power than this. They can't even do anything to stop the Flower Power gang!"

"I think we should change the name," Ren showed up silently behind his comrade Nora, stopping the girl's speech.

"And why? Is there something wrong with our name?" Nora turned to him, hand on her hip and other one lowering her weapon so that it rested against her shoulder now.

He shrugged. "I think it's just a bit...not menacing enough."

"Well I think it's perfect!" Nora humphed. "It's the combination of two of our ultimate moves. It sums us up concisely."

"I suppose," Ren said, not having the energy to engage in a verbal battle with her. She could talk someone to death. He'd seen it happen with his own eyes. Maybe he could convince her to change the name somewhere along the way. They were still fairly new to this whole crime thing. Up until a month or two ago, the two of them had been wanderer's, traveling from town to town and doing menial tasks for the folks there. The money wasn't very good and the constant traveling put a toll on their bodies. They had been looking for new jobs at the local bakery when the place had gotten robbed. Several gang members all clad in black came storming in, demanding the place to surrender and turn over their assets to the Grimm gang. Nora and Ren, both people who carried weapons and had been trained since birth in their hometown on how to wield them before leaving for work, had used these said weapons to knock the members out. The store owners had been so grateful that they had showered the two heroes with free food.

Nora, digging into the tastiest cake she had ever had, had had a wild revelation. "Ren, this could be it! This could be the key to getting a steady job, to having money to send back to our families!"

"Fighting crime?" the boy had asked sensibly, nibbling on a piece of this and on a piece of that, not certain which he enjoyed more.

"No! Don't be silly. We can take over bakeries. Just look at this awesome and sweet food! I can't believe I've never tried some before. We need to protect this preciousness!" Nora cuddled the cake slice to her face before she devoured it next second. Ren wasn't even taken aback by her weird idea-he was so used to her odd schemes.

"That's because we've never had the money to afford any," Ren pointed out, secretly gushing over the sweets as he sat with a calm outer demeanor and ate them. Nora wasn't as good at hiding her emotions. She was literally jumping up and down as she shoved one snack into her mouth and then eagerly grabbed the next one. She was speaking around her full mouth, crumbs showering out of it and onto Ren's hair, which the boy brushed with his hand occasionally to remove the mess.

"So you agree with me!"

"I never said I did-"

"Great. Then that means we have to start making plans on how to take over all the bakeries in this city! They'll be under our protection or something like that. And in that way we can forever have them in our debt and have all the sweets we want!" Nora let out a wild whoop and raised her cake covered hands high in the air.

Ren let out a sigh. He would just have to go wherever it was Nora went, such was the foundation of their relationship. She would come up with some hare-brained scheme and he would go along with it to make sure she didn't get hurt along the way. Whether he did it out of obligation to when she saved him from getting bullied as a child, or out of something else, some feeling he could not yet name, he wasn't sure. But he would follow her anywhere and do anything she asked of.

"Okay," he agreed and the very next day the two of them had strode up to a nearby bakery.

"Good morning people of this wonderful bakery!" Nora had greeted, her sledgehammer slung over her right shoulder casually. The people of the bakery who had been sitting at their tables with their kids, eating their snacks, paused in their talk to look up at the newcomer. Ren was standing silently by her side. No one spoke as the door behind the two closed slowly. Only when it shut did the guy at the register, who also conveniently happened to be the store owner, address them. "Uh, can I help you two?" He eyed Nora's blatant display of her weapon.

"Yup!" Nora popped her p. "We're here to offer you protection."

"Protection?" the guy echoed.

"Recently it has come to our attention that around this neighborhood there are some nasty individuals that like robbing bakeries. And so we've come up with a solution for it."

"We...we don't want your protection," the man slowly said, his eyes narrowing in suspicion at the orange haired woman.

"You don't? Not even if the people come into your store and trash it?" At this Nora cocked her head in fake contemplation, putting her weapon down top first to the store floor, hand on it's handle. The store owner watched the weapon's shift in position warily but did not waver. "No thanks. We're not in need of such services. We can protect ourselves adequately."

"Hmm," Nora let her eyes close momentarily as a wide grin stretched on her face. "So you wouldn't want my help even if, for example, let's say the group of criminals came in and did this?" At this Nora lifted up her sledgehammer and with an easy flick of her wrist she turned around and smashed one panel of the store's glass front.

The customer's flinched collectively at this blatant attack and one kid let out a loud cry that was rapidly silenced by their mother in fear of attracting Nora's attention.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing!" the store owner shouted out, wagging a hand at them angrily. "Quit it!"

"But if you have bad guys robbing your store then they won't simply just stop because you yell at them!" Nora said, her grin getting wider. "They'll take to destroying more things. Like this table here." And with that she wrapped both hands on the staff of the weapon and picked it up over her head before swinging it down with resounding force on the table next to her. The couple who were sitting at it, fell onto their butts as they tried to get out of the chairs in order to get away from her as the metal furniture caved in under the strike. They scrambled towards the exit and Ren let them pass. This seemed to break the spell that was held over the crowd and they all took to their feet, rushing out. Ren held the door for them as they did so. Just because he was helping Nora terrorize some people didn't mean he couldn't be a complete gentlemen during it.

The store owner in this time had taken to digging his Scroll out of his pocket and was trying to call the police. Ren tugged out his weapon, a cross between an smg and a blade, and shot off one bullet. The Scroll went flying out of the man's hand and he let out a little cry of surprise at that motion. Ren then lowered his gun arm and closed the door behind him, everyone having vacated the area except for the now scared store owner.

"So what will it be?" Nora asked the lone man, lifting up her weapon and swinging it around haphazardly in an arc to her left. He watched her weapon, leery that she would wreck something else of his, but he was also torn with looking over at Ren's weapon. Both were equally dangerous.

"I suppose...I suppose I'll take your offer," he said, not knowing what else to do in this situation. He needed to stall for time. Maybe he could somehow escape these two lunatics.

This statement made the girl happy. "Yay! Ren did you hear that! Did you! He wants us to help him!" Nora skipped over to Ren, turning her back on the store owner and leaving herself wide open. The store owner reached under the counter where he kept a shotgun just in case of criminals like these and lifted it, with the purpose to shoot her. Right now she was distracted and so was her accomplice, who was shaking his head in exasperation at her display of joy, one that warranted her to pumping her arms up and down over her head, her weapon discarded on the floor. The store owner quickly pumped the gun and set it's sights on the two, the orange haired girl first on his list, but before he could so much as inch his finger towards the trigger he found himself with a bullet to the chest. He let out a strangled cry and fell over backwards, the gun going off and blasting a hole in the ceiling.

Nora turned around at this, not even noticing that Ren had shot the man so in her own joy she was occupied. "Huh, what was that?" She walked over to the counter and peered over it to see the dead owner. "Ren!" she snapped back at the dark haired man. "You killed him! Now whose going to run this place?"

Ren sighed and shrugged. He didn't want to have to explain to her how the store owner was going to kill her if Ren hadn't shot him down first. It would be too much waste of breath. Nora would have still scolded him no matter what.

"Hah," she let out a loud breath and leaned her back on the counter. "I guess the place is ours now. Do you know how to bake?"

And that was how the two of them had come into possession of their first bakery shop. Nora then had gained the second one by much the same method. The girl wanted to help protect the people of the city from the gang that ravaged their baked goods stores but she wasn't entirely going about in a better way. The thing with her was that she was very one track minded and thought that she knew best. So if someone disagreed with her then she was wont to ignore their opinion and do what she thought was best.

And now they had just captured their third bakery. But they hadn't realized what a horrid mistake they had just made.

Ren noted a blur on the rooftops of the block over and he tugged on Nora's sleeve, pointing at it when she was broken out of her joyful celebration.

"Ooo, company. I wonder if they love cookies too and want to buy some," Nora asked obliviously.

"I don't think so," Ren said as the figure stopped before them, on the rooftop over. It was a young looking girl, with a red cloak around her shoulders.

"Hello there! I'm afraid if you want some baked goods from this place, you'll have to wait. The place is currently under going reparations and a shift in management thanks to the Flower Power gang," Nora called out, waving her hand in greeting at the girl.

"And who is the Flower Power gang?" The girl's voice was even and her face neutral. It was hard to tell what she was thinking right now.

Ren had a feeling this girl wasn't a regular customer. She had moved way too fast, leaping from rooftop to rooftop like it was nothing. She was trained it seemed, something akin to how they had been. He tightened his grip on his weapons. He couldn't see any weapons on her, her red cloak covering up most of her figure but it wouldn't hurt to be careful. He only wished Nora could be more wary too. As it was the girl was too high off her win to be careful.

"It's us two!" Nora proudly pointed at her and Ren. "It's only us two for now but once we get more money than we can afford to get gang members and getaway cars and all that great stuff so that we can protect the city from evil."

The girl was quiet before she scoffed. "What a stupid name."

"I told you we should change the name," Ren muttered to Nora who wasn't listening to him.

"How dare you insult us! It's a great name! Who are you anyways?" Nora pointed angrily at the other, her good mood souring and disappearing into the air in a charge of ozone. Her semblance was flaring up but the orange haired girl wouldn't activate it. She only reserved it for really taxing battles and she didn't seem to think this girl was dangerous.

"I'm Ruby Rose, leader of the Grimm gang, and you've just intruded on my territory." At this the small girl pulled out a weapon from under her cloak. It unfolded and turned into a massive scythe that looked too ungainly to wield.

Ren let out a sigh. Trust Nora to rob the one bakery that just so happened to belong to one of the most notorious gangs. "Here we go," he muttered and tightened the grip on his weapons once more.

 **A/N: I think I really like the idea of Ren and Nora as a crime fighting duo that defeats bad guys by committing crimes of their own. It fits in with Nora's character. She strikes me as a very pushy person who is so much focused on her thoughts and stuck in her head so often that she doesn't realize what she is doing can cause harm to others. She's not necessarily evil in this story, just hates people who have different opinions than her. She also loves fighting.**

 **And poor Ren is just stuck in whatever situation Nora drags him into. As the voice of reason he doesn't get listened much to.**


	4. Chapter 4

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Special Chapter: Celebrations

 **A/N: In honor of July Fourth, I decided to write this little scene about the gang celebrating it their own way.**

"Patriotic decorations?"

"Check."

"Patriotic music?"

"Check."

"Patriotic clothes?"

"Check."

"How about the food? Are the barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers ready?"

"Yes, boss."

"What about the drinks?"

"Got them all in the cooler."

"And the cookies?"

"Four different varieties ready to be tasted and eaten. Served on a golden platter."

"Good. Now, I feel like we're still missing something Mercury..." Ruby tapped her finger to her chin.

"I don't know boss. I think we have everything," Mercury shrugged. He looked the place over. The blanket had been set out on the grass, the grill was currently manned by Emerald who was flipping burgers, and Cinder had already arrived, holding the special delivered plate of cookies for Ruby which she unwrapped and placed in the middle of the blanket. They were going to watch the fourth of July celebrations from the woods, a little stream flowing in front of them. It was the perfect setting where no one could interrupt them.

"What's wrong Ruby?" Cinder asked as she placed a kiss on the top of the shorter girl's head.

"I feel like we forgot something, but I don't know what." The girl scrunched up her face in concentration, wrinkling up her nose.

"Do you have the food?"

"Yes."

"The drinks?"

"Yes."

"The clothing, the music, and the decorations?" Cinder asked although she could see everyone present was wearing red, white and blue. There was the American anthem playing from the speakers positioned by the grill, and a flag had been pinned up to the tree next to them.

"Yes, yes, and yes! I don't know what we're missing!" Ruby threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"And I have the cookies...so that means..." Cinder also trailed off thoughtfully before she had an idea. "The fireworks! Did you bring them?"

"Of course! I can't believe we forgot the fireworks! Their important. Mercury, go run to the car and fetch them. We can't have a fourth of July without some illegal flares." Ruby snapped her fingers and the boy rushed over to where their car was parked somewhere a couple tress down, hidden in the brush where no one could find it.

He came back two moments later with a big cardboard box filled to the brim with fireworks. He set it down by the stream. "I call the big ones!" Ruby said as she rushed over to the box. "I like how loud they get. Cinder, which ones do you want?"

"I'm not picky," she answered as she watched Ruby dig through the stuff. "Just remember we cannot fire them off until it gets dark."

"Yea, I know," Ruby shot over her shoulder, pulling out a rocket that was nearly the size of her. "This baby is mine," she said, chuckling evilly, stroking its side.

The group ate the food that Emerald had prepared for them as they sat on the blanket and talked about casual topics. Soon dusk had fallen and Ruby watched the sun set eagerly. It had barely disappeared behind the horizon when she was already up and running over to her rocket. "It's time to light them up!"

The other gang members all grabbed some rockets of their own, setting them down evenly upon the shore. They held lighters in one hand, other hand holding their fireworks up level. "Is this the right trajectory?" Emerald asked. "I don't wanna hit something we shouldn't."

"Don't worry. I calculated it. We'll be fine," Cinder reassured.

"On the count of three," Ruby said, before pausing. "Three!" she shouted out, not bothering to actually count down and lit her rocket. The others did too, stepping back to be safe. The rockets zoomed off into the air, over the trees and down. Their destination: a small hideout. There were several loud bangs, and smoke, followed by the screams of people. In the flash caused by the fireworks, the Grimm gang members could make out the people of their rival gang running around screaming as they tried to escape the chaos. A red rose, the mark of Ruby's work, rose over the site and Ruby stood there proudly, hands on her hips. The gang, still in their infantile rise to power, would now think twice upon intruding on Ruby's land.

"Man, I really love the fourth of July," Ruby said cheerily.

 **A/N: I in no way support the use of fireworks on other people, so have a safe and fun holiday for those of you who do celebrate it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter Four: The Tasteless Battle for the Bakery

* * *

"Ruby Rose?" Nora tipped her head, confusion etched upon her face. "So you're the one in charge of all those bad guys down there?" Nora pointed at the devastation on the street.

"Yes. And you've just hurt them, not to mention ransacked my store. I don't take insults dealt to me easily," the short girl gripped her weapon tighter. "I don't know what game it is you are playing, but you better quit it while you still can get away."

Nora shook her head. "I don't think so. You're hurting people by stealing their bakeries away from them. And as self proclaimed Sweet Tooth Nora, it is my job to be the savior of these people's bakeries and to put them under my protection. I won't let you take away people's sugar!" She hefted her weapon at this, level to her chest, both hands steady on it. "And if you want to fight me for it then go ahead. Me and Ren aren't scared of you. We've taken down worse looking enemies during our travels. You're nothing to be scared of. Just because you're leader of the Grimm doesn't mean you have the talent to back it up."

"Are you done with this talk of yours?" Ruby asked, heaving out a yawn. "You've interrupted my cookie break and I hate when people do that."

Nora was a bit taken aback to have her spiel cut off, but then again Ren had always told her she did have to cut them down as she had a tendency to go on a tangent. One time she had ranted to one of their victims, going from one topic to another in such rapid succession that the man's ears had begun to bleed.

Nora sniffed angrily. "I was just wrapping up. But it doesn't matter now. I'll just let my weapon do the talking."

"I was hoping for that," Ruby muttered and then leapt off her roof to land on the one that Ren and Nora were standing on, bypassing a gap of ten feet. She landed without so much as a sound, her cloak falling around her and spilling to the ground like blood.

Ren didn't like the look of their opponent. She was the leader of the Grimm gang after all! Despite her being small and fragile and utterly too innocent looking to have shed so much blood like the Grimm gang reputedly had, and despite Ren not being sure if her being leader was just a bluff, he could sense that there was power in her. He could feel it radiating off of her.

"Nora, I think we should go. Let's abandon this store and just target another one."

"Aww, but we already did so much work to get this one. And I really wanted to try the cherry pie they had here. It looked so good!" Nora pouted.

"It's not worth it. She's dangerous," Ren said, eyeing the girl in front of them. He and Nora were still relatively new to the city so they didn't have much background on the Grimm or their leader except for the fact that the gang ran most of this area. But now that he saw the girl he figured it was best to leave the mission. The leader was pissed and he didn't want to risk it.

"No!" Nora stomped her foot stubbornly. "We worked this damn hard for this store. We fought so many swarms of people for it and I will not give up. We are the heroes here. We have to fight for the people of this city so that they can have their sweets. And so that we can have them too!"

"The sweets in the city belong to me," Ruby stood up at this, planting her scythe hilt down onto the roof. "You better understand that real soon, because I do not intend to share with anyone."

"You're just being greedy!" Nora shouted back childishly. "A greedy, greedy, little girl!"

At this Ruby's eye muscle twitched dangerously. "What did you call me?"

"A greedy girl!"

"No, after that," Ruby said softly and quietly. Ren did not like the look in her silver eyes. Nora of course didn't notice it. She wasn't good at reading people because she spent so much time pouring out her own emotions and overpowering theirs. But Ren, who preferred to remain quiet, could spend more time reading people's faces as well as listen to what they said, something Nora was horrid at as well.

"A little girl?" Nora questioned.

"I'm not a little girl! I'm a grown girl!" Ruby stomped her foot like a child, pouting heavily. "Just yesterday I grew a centimeter! A centimeter! I know it's not a lot but I've been drinking my milk and Cinder says that I'm still growing at this age so I have time to get taller and have big boobs and stuff like her!"

Nora and Ren exchanged confused stares at this. Apparently the girl was sensitive to her height. Ren gave his partner a shrug that conveyed the message that he didn't know if he should interrupt the brunette who was still going on and on about the issue, shouting something about how she knew she was definitely going to have a growth spurt any day now.

Nora decided to interrupt. "So, uh, are you done yet? Can we fight now?"

This stopped Ruby who let out a petulant huff. "Fine. But don't call me a little girl!"

"Okay..." Nora gave a mischievous smile. "Little girl!"

This made Ruby's eyes flare angrily. "Fatty!" This wasn't the best insult but all she could come up with on such notice.

This made Nora rear back as if she had been hit physically. "Huh, fatty? Ren, I'm not fat am I? Am I?" She turned to the tall boy for reassurance.

"No, you're not."

"See, I'm not fat, so you take that back right now!"

"Fine...carrot top!" Ruby changed up her word game.

This made Nora rear back a second time. "What? What's wrong with having orange hair. Ren, tell her there's nothing wrong with having orange hair!"

Ren let out a heavy sigh but did as asked. "There's nothing wrong with having orange hair." Would they ever get to the fight part? Not that he was eager to fight Ruby but still...this childish banter was getting ridiculous. It was like Nora and Ruby were the same person.

"Well at least my clothes aren't as tacky as yours!" Ruby pointed at Nora's jacket.

Nora looked down at her clothes then at her partner. "Ren!"

Ren let his shoulders sag down. "Nora's clothes are awesome. I love them," was said in monotone.

Nora turned back to Ruby triumphantly. "Ha!" she crossed her arms over her chest after setting her weapon down on the floor so she could free her hands.

"He only doesn't want to hurt your feelings, that's why he's saying it!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yuh-uh!"

"Ren is my best friend. He would never lie to me!"

"Yes he would!"

The girl's had just resorted to yelling stupidly at one another, wagging pointer fingers at each other in exclamation.

"You're just mad you don't have a best friend!"

"I have plenty of friends!"

"I bet you're lying. Doesn't she look like she has no friends Ren?"

"Tell her that's not true Ren!" And now Ruby was asking his opinion too. He sweat-dropped. This was going to require him to speak more and he honestly did not want to. So he took out his weapon and shot off a bullet at Ruby to get some action rolling.

The girl swiped the bullet out of mid-air, splitting it into two halves that hit the ground behind her. She was good; super quick. At his shot some calm entered her and she got serious once more. "That's right. I don't have anymore time to waste on you two." And then she lunged forward, racing across the flat rooftop towards them. Nora too, entered her serious mode and lifted her weapon up in both her hands, holding it in front of her chest while Ren picked up both of his hands to raise his dual smg's/blades up and fired off multiple rounds at the red and black target in front of him.

Ruby merely dodged all of them, the bullets missing her by just millimeters. "She got through my barrage!" Ren cried out, shocked by her precision. He was an amazing shot; he didn't have troubled shooting a grape from the top of someone's head yards away. But she was too fast. It looked like he would have to get into close combat with her, something he hadn't had to do with anyone in a long time, and something he definitely wasn't excited about, given the girl's scythe. But Nora was better at close range. "Get into close quarters with her Nora," he ordered, the girl nodding her head in confirmation.

Now Ruby was six feet away from them and he stopped shooting at her and moved out of her path to the side to give Nora her chance.

"On it!" Nora let a silly grin grace her lips, rushed at Ruby, and swung her weapon as hard as she could while Ruby swung her's.

The two of them never stood a chance.

* * *

"How did it go?" Cinder asked from her chair behind her desk as Ruby entered the room. She looked fresh, as if she didn't just fight with two others.

"It was alright," the girl said cheerily. She set her scythe against the wall. The blade was devoid of any blood so that meant it hadn't been one of _those_ days. "I let them get off with a warning not to mess with us again, since they were new here and didn't know any better. I think they got the message loud and clear now as to who we are."

"And if they didn't?" Cinder asked, getting up from her chair, tossing the pencil she had been filling out forms with to the side.

At this Ruby's expression hardened. "Then they won't get another chance."

"I love it when you act all tough and evil," Cinder cooed as she embraced the smaller girl to her chest. "But you don't have to force yourself to do it. In fact, I think it might even freak out your opponents even more if you were happy all the time."

"But I wanna be tough looking like you. I want to be able to scare people with my mere presence in the room," Ruby pouted as she snuggled closer to Cinder's chest, breathing in the others incense like scent.

"You don't have to be like me. I like you the way you are, as Ruby Rose." At this Cinder pulled Ruby away and lifted her chin up with her thumb so that she could meet the others downcast gaze. "Ruby, look at me." Ruby did. "You are perfect the way you are. And if you force yourself to be who you aren't then your enemies will sniff that out and use it as a weapon to weaken you."

Ruby let out a sigh. "I guess that's right. Today it was hard to be all dark and menacing towards Sweet Tooth Nora and Reticent Ren even though I was kind of upset at them. But what about when I get really angry? Like really, really, _really_ , angry. Then I get super aggressive and hurt other people. Do you want me to continue that or stop that?"

"No Ruby. That anger is a true part of you and I wouldn't change it for anything. I've already made it clear before but I shall do it once more. I love it when you get angry and let loose because it means that you care enough about certain things; that you are a passionate person and I love people who are strongly passionate about something." Cinder let a smile grace her lips.

"Thanks Cinder. You always know what to say to cheer me up." Ruby closed the gap between them and went up on her toes to give the older woman a kiss on the lips.

"And I have something else that will make you happy." Cinder pulled away and went over to her drawer, pulling out a white paper bag that contained the cookies from lunch.

Ruby could smell them all the way from here, her nose notorious for being able to pick out scents of sweets easily. "Man, you are just the best Cinder!" She raced over to grab the bag from Cinder's hand. Cinder chuckled at her exuberant expression and sat down back at her desk. Ruby took this chance to straddle the older woman's lap and snuck out a cookie from the bag. Then holding one end in her mouth, she presented the other end to Cinder, who still chuckling, let her lips close over it as she took a bite. The two of them chewed the cookie in silence, Cinder's hands coming up to rest on Ruby's waist so that the girl wouldn't fall off. Not that the fall would hurt her anyways. Ruby was like a tank, shouldering on with a little laugh and smile on her face, impervious to pain.

Ruby broke the silence the two had lapsed into. "I wish they made Cinder flavored cookies. Then I could eat you anywhere and anytime." The girl blushed as she said this and Cinder could feel her own face flare in arousal and happiness at the girl's honest words.

"Well, if you're still looking for a snack, then I'm here." Cinder leaned closer to the girl's face, her words a seductive whisper. Not that Ruby needed to be seduced. The girl was Cinder's and Cinder's alone.

"Then allow me to dig in," Ruby growled out, her eyes flashing with lust and fingers digging into Cinder's exposed collarbone.

Cinder's paperwork went unfinished that night, but the desk on which it was spread out on got well used. Ruby made sure to see to it.

 **A/N: Decided to skip out on the action scene since this story's focus is on relationships more than fighting, although I'll probs include some fight scenes later on if I feel like it.**


	6. Chapter 6

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter Five: A Bumpy Car Ride

 **A/N: This one has a bit more mature content so be warned y'all. I tried to keep it vague tho...  
**

"Do you have any idea why the White Fang want to meet with us today?" Ruby asked between gasped breaths.

"I think it has something to do with wanting to align themselves with us. They've finally seen us as allies, as someone powerful enough to provide an advantage if they work with us," Cinder responded in a somewhat muffled tone of voice. Right now her mouth was a bit occupied with licking a very sensitive spot between the apex of Ruby's thighs, her hands holding her by the hipbones to keep the girl from squirming too much. They weren't exactly in a place with too much space.

"Mmhm, well then I guess that's good. Although I'm not sure what they could offer to us for their side of the bargain, if they want to make a deal with us." Ruby stifled a moan at the end of the sentence. She dug her fingers into the leather of the backseat of the car they were traveling in to get to this meeting, in an effort to ground herself and keep her hips from bucking up too violently. Last time she had done that she had almost knocked out one of Cinder's teeth. Sometimes Ruby forgot her own strength. While her partner, Cinder, was strong in her own right, Ruby could still easily overtake her.

"Well, one thing is brute force. They have a lot of followers and no doubt access to weaponry that we could use to supply our own forces with. They can get us things that we wouldn't normally be able to get from Menagerie. Which is the home of faunas," Cinder concluded, letting her tongue do one last swipe that dragged Ruby off of the edge. Her body shivered as she came undone, her eyes closing shut before they reopened after she rode the last of the waves of pleasure rocking her body. The girl recovered quickly and pulled up Cinder to kiss her on the lips. Just at that moment there was a bump on the road and the car jumped up, causing the two of their heads to knock together painfully.

"Ouch!" Ruby cried out, tears coming to her eyes, and grabbed her hurt forehead. "Mercury, what did I tell you about hitting bumps on the road!" she yelled angrily at the driver of the small black car.

"Uh, you said not to do it, unless I wanted to end up a bump on the road myself while you drove over me repeatedly," the driver said ducking his head into neck in scared apology.

"And don't forget!" Ruby reminded before she let out a giant sigh. "Alright, it's your turn," she told Cinder, this time pushing the woman down before clambering on top of her. The older woman was spread out on the black leather of the seat, her hair spilling around her, black on black. Her chest heaved up and down in anticipation and Ruby let one hand trail down the woman's cheek all the way to her thigh, her red dress only going down to mid thigh and leaving Ruby with not too much fabric to push out of the way to reach her prize. "Did the White Fang specify want they wanted out of this arrangement or was it mainly left up in the air, only to be discussed at the meeting?" Ruby asked as she laid hot kisses down Cinder's pale neck.

"They mainly seemed interesting in meeting us face to face and in voicing any ideas or agreements before settling down on making some decision at a later scheduled meeting," Cinder responded with, letting her hands roam up to Ruby's back and holding her tightly there.

"Hmmm, seems a bit odd. That they would want to see us face to face. Are you sure it's not a trap or something?" Ruby asked, as her hand which had been rubbing circles on Cinder's thighs, began to duck under her dress, thumbing at the thin lace panties there.

"We were told to bring no weapons and the meeting is in a public place, so even if fighting did break out Adam would get in trouble too. The police are looking for him, and he does not need to draw attention to himself. Beside, if there is one thing Adam is known for, it is for keeping his promises. He promised to fight for faunas rights and he does. He promised to kill that politician and he did. He promised to give a cut of all his earnings to the poor faunas and he does. It's a bit odd that he-!" at this Cinder sucked in a deep breath as Ruby's hand bypassed the panties. "Well, he's a bit old fashioned in that he upholds his promises. And it's especially weird given the field we are in. People back-stab each other like it's going out of fashion, but not him," Cinder said in a much lighter and breathier tone of voice, her eyes closing halfway.

"That is weird," Ruby murmured to herself, swooping down to kiss Cinder only for the two of their teeth to clack together painfully as Mercury swerved to the side.

"Mercury!" Ruby hissed, glaring at the man and seeing his scared reflection in the rear view mirror. He looked pale under his chauffeur cap but tried to explain his actions. "I know you told me to drive smoothly but-"

"Then drive smoothly!"

At this Mercury looked out the driver's side window and then swerved the car to the right. This time Ruby heard it. She had been too occupied with Cinder's breathy moans and the details of the mission to hear the whiz of a passing by bullet, but not this time.

"Whose shooting at us?" Ruby sat up, fixing her shirt immediately and pulling on her skirt which laid discarded on the car floor. The car was bullet proof, a precaution all gang leaders took, but Ruby didn't like the idea that someone was trying to off them, and that their bullets could go astray and hit someone else by accident.

"I don't know boss. Some guys in the car following us. I tried to shake them off a couple minutes ago but then I hit the bump and you told me to drive smoother so they caught up and-"

"Ugh, I hate it when people interrupt my car rides!" Ruby growled out, and all dressed up, she reached for Crescent Rose which was buckled in on the passenger seat. "I'll be back. I'm going to have a quick chat. It better not be the White Fang trying to wipe us out." And with that the girl opened the car door while the car was still in motion and jumped out, slamming the door shut behind her as she hit the ground running.

Cinder sat up with a sigh. It looked like they would be interrupted again. But Cinder didn't mind. In fact, Ruby would be pissed off by the interruption when she came back and that would give Cinder guaranteed extra fun.

"Uh, should I stop and wait somewhere for her?" Mercury asked as he continued down the road. He was eyeing the downsized version of what was going on to the car behind him in his rear view mirror, Ruby a blur of red and black around the vehicle. Gun fire sounded and then the car screeched as it swerved to the right and into some trees that lined the single lane road.

"It'll be fine," Cinder said calmly as she pulled out her lipstick and reapplied it to her lips. She was going to leave her mark all over Ruby. "She'll catch up."

"Okay," Mercury sighed nervously and kept his white gloved hands on the steering wheel. Already the crashed car was getting more and more distant and then suddenly it exploded into a conflagration. The loudness of the explosion startled him and he jumped lightly in his seat, jumping once more when he suddenly found Ruby sitting back in the back seat, a couple of rose petals fluttering down around her and settling on the floor.

"It's those guys again! Cardin and his fellow lackies!" Ruby complained, compressing her weapon into one piece before reaching over and placing it in the passenger seat of the car and strapping it in carefully like one would to a baby. "I swear they always come after me in the worst times. And I don't even know what they want. They aren't powerful enough to take down my gang or even seem to want to do it, so what do they want from me? It's so frustrating!" Ruby fumed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Cinder placed an arm around her neck, directing the smaller girl's face to her. "Why don't you just forget about them. Let me take care of your frustrations." Her lips brushed against Ruby's and the smaller girl gave in without a second thought.

Cinder knew who those guys happened to be. She was the one who hired them whenever she needed someone to help piss off Ruby. She paid them well for their troubles and in return she got her angry Ruby. An angry Ruby who was very much appreciated during more amorous moments. Sometimes one had to be creative to spice up their sex life, especially if their partner hated getting mad and wouldn't do it themselves. And if Cinder couldn't get Cardin and his men to help after a particular nasty attack by Ruby on them, then she could count on Mercury to do it for her, as he didn't have many human body parts to lose and thus Ruby didn't feel as inclined to hurt him as she did to others. The boss had had a different assistant but after three months she had been hospitalized so often that the poor girl had simply chosen to quit and risk getting whacked off by the gang rather than live and work for Ruby any longer.

For the rest of the ride poor Mercury had a hard time keeping the car on the road but it wasn't due to chasers but because the car rocked so hard it might tip over. Sighing and raising the volume on his headphones, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel and wondered why he had the misfortune of being the chauffeur every damn time. Or why he always had to tell the boss the bad news. Really, life wasn't fair. Another long moan swan in through his already loud music and he took to humming loudly and with a hint of panic so that he wouldn't have to hear anything else. Were the girl's always this loud? Or was it just today?

"Shut up! You're ruining the mood with your stupid humming!" Ruby gave the back of his chair a hard kick, sending the man face first into the steering wheel. This caused the car to swerve into a parked car on the side of the road and interrupt the two girl's in the back.

"Mercury! What did I tell you about driving well!"

"I'm sorry boss-" the man blubbered out as he pulled his face out of the air bag.

"Lay down on the road right now!"

"But I just got my leg fixed!" He couldn't keep the whine out of his voice.

"What did I tell you!"

With a heavy sigh Mercury got out of the car and laid down flat on the road on his back. Ruby got out of the backseat and into the driver's seat, putting the car into reverse so she could have some length of road to cover before she hit Mercury. Then she pushed the car forwards, it rolling slowly so Mercury's pain would be more drawn out.

Cinder pulled herself into a sitting position in the back seat in the meantime, trying to tug the tattered pieces of her top together so that it could make her look a bit more decent. Her hair was mussed up and her lipstick smudged, most of it on Ruby's neck. It was a good thing she had packed extra clothes for this and some makeup wipes. She always made sure to do so for every car ride the two of them went on. Things always got steamy in the backseat. Sometimes she felt bad for Mercury who always had to drive them when it happened. But not too bad. It _was_ his job after all.

And now Ruby had gotten pissed off at Mercury too. It was a double bonus. She'd never had Ruby after she was mad twice in a row. Cinder was excited to say the least for what lay in store for the two of them now in the physical department. And as Mercury's screams were covered up by Ruby's evil giggles, Cinder sighed wistfully in anticipation.

 **A/N: Poor Mercury. He just can't seem to catch a break.**


	7. Chapter 7

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter Six: Ruby's Past

 **A/N: This one takes place in the past, sort of.**

Ruby had anger issues. Bad anger issues. She didn't want to have any, but that didn't take the fact away that her temper was often spiraling out of control. A wrongly said word, a wrongly placed action, and her mood would whorl into a stormy tempest. She couldn't help it. It was just who she was. She didn't like being angry. And it most certainly did not fit her image. She was petite and cute looking, so when she went off on a rampage it caught others off guard so badly they often never wanted to associate with her, leaving her sadly friendless. Because when Ruby got mad, she got violent. Things broke, people got hurt, and she raged on until her anger was spent.

She had tried several different ways to hold in her anger but that did no wonders for her. It would only gather inside her, like a well full of rainwater, until it overfilled, a tidal wave that wiped away every last shred of humanity. In fact, it was her bad temper that left her in the situation she was in now, her being the boss of the Grimm.

It had all started that faithful day six months ago. Ruby, whose dream it had been to be a huntress at Beacon Academy, had sent in an application to them. She wanted to learn how to fight crime and to protect the people of the city from evil villains and the likes. Yet, despite her prodigal prowess and capabilities with her semblance and weapon, the school had rejected her, citing that she was simply too young and they could not accept her. That she should try again in three years time.

This had made Ruby mad. She wanted to attend Beacon with her older sister Yang more than anything else she had ever wanted before, but the stupid school hadn't let her, they denied her one dream. So she had decided to go around and thrash some garbage cans so that her anger wouldn't hurt any one person or hurt an establishment. However, while she had been out back, kicking some trash bags around till they erupted like rotten fireworks, she had overheard some villains. Edging around the corner of the back of the store she saw three men dressed in black. She instantly recognized the mark of the Grimm mask that covered their faces, deformed white shapes with black marks and red glowing eyes. It was the Grimm gang, one that threatened the entirety of the city. A small smile had broken out on Ruby's face as she saw them. She could use this opportunity to beat them up and then it would show that stupid Ozpin guy how really powerful and useful she was. And then he would have to let her into the school! Fueled by her anger, she took out her weapon and went up to them.

"What are you doing here little girl?" one of them had asked, the one that had been first to see her. "This isn't a safe place for little girl's like you. Now get back before we hurt you."

"And put away the weapon you have there. Little girl's shouldn't play with blades," the other said, bending down to pat her condescendingly on the head. Ruby felt her brow twitch at this. Ozpin had called her a little girl too before he had turned her away. She wasn't a little girl!

"I'm just small for my age, but I still have time to grow! And I'm strong. Stronger than you all!" Ruby insisted, stomping her foot in annoyance, her eyes scrunching up.

"Sure sure," said the third dismissively. "Now get out of the way before you get hurt. We have something to finish here."

"The only thing getting finished here will be you!" Ruby growled out, holding her weapon up higher, mentally high fiving herself for that good one liner. She even talked like a good huntress. So why couldn't she be one?

"Huh?" the first of the three blubbered out, not expecting those words from her mouth. But those were the last words he heard from her mouth for the rest of the evening because with two well placed swings of her blade she caused him and his friends to knock out. Ruby had then taken the unconscious criminals to Ozpin who had merely looked at her down his nose and said that this wasn't proof enough that she was qualified to join the school. Then she had gotten mad all over again, her joy at having taken down the criminals cut short.

So then she been kicking _another_ pile of trash when she overheard yet another evil scheme. More Grimm gang members were planning to rob another store. So Ruby went to stop them but their unconscious bodies still did not impress Ozpin. And incentivized even more so, the girl had decided to capture one of the Grimm members and then interrogate him until he told her where she could find the leader of the gang so she could fight them. The captive didn't know where to find the gang leader since he was the last rung on the social gang ladder, and so he had sent her to someone who would know and that person sent Ruby to someone else and that someone else sent her to someone else. Ruby went on a wild goose chase until at last she reached the top. But it wasn't easy.

Along the way there had been boss battles. Ones that tested her abilities to the core. But she had succeeded and finally reached the last level: the real boss. She had strode into the boss's chambers, ready to kick her ass, but when she laid eyes on her everything changed. She was beautiful, her long evil locks tumbling down her shoulder and as dark as the very night she worked in. Her curvy figure was clad in a skin hugging red dress with sheer red sleeves and gold racing up and down the side in swirls. Flames danced in the palm of her hand and she turned her head over her shoulder to look back at Ruby, the rest of her body facing the giant half arch windows overlooking the city.

"So, this is it. The moment that will ascertain everything. The fight that will determine the fate of my gang. You have done well to pursue me this far, but today will be the last day you will be able to do so, for it all ends now." Even her voice was hot, smooth like velvet and with the right touch of timbre to it. Cinder turned to fully face Ruby at those words, whose grip had gone slack on her weapon, causing it to drop to the floor with a clatter. Ruby had never seen such a majestic being like this and her brain wasn't sure what to do about it, and neither did her body. Cinder arched a brow at that action, and at the dumbfounded look on Ruby's face before continuing. "Are you ready to fight?"

Ruby's next words startled Cinder so badly she almost lost her balance in her sky high stilettos. "Can I join your gang?"

Cinder blinked once, twice. And then pinched herself with her free hand on her neck to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She wasn't. "What?"

"You're so pretty. I want to work for you!" Ruby pumped her hands up and down enthusiastically before realizing she had some drool on her chin and going to wipe it off with the back of her sleeve. "Where do I sign up?"

"Err, uh." Cinder, a smooth talker who was able to talk her way out of any situation, found herself unable to articulate an answer to Ruby's response. The flame in her hand died out, a plume of smoke in the shape of a question rising up from where it had been. "Don't you want to fight me, anymore? I mean, I was kind of hyped up for this fight."

"Nope, not anymore. You're pretty." Ruby shook her head back and forth.

"But I trained for months for this." Cinder couldn't keep the hint of whine out of her voice. "Like, a lot."

"Still don't wanna fight you. Too pretty." Ruby nodded her head up and down quickly.

"But you decimated a huge portion of my gang. You ruined my operation! And now you're just going to stop all this, just because I'm pretty?" Cinder lifted her hands up in the air to accentuate the ridiculousness of this concept.

"Yup. Now, where do I sign up for the job. Ruby Rose reporting for duty!" Ruby snapped her heels together and saluted Cinder who sighed and did a face slap. "Outside the door and down the hall, third room on the right. You can sign up with Roman. He's the guy with the stupid hat whose always smoking a cigar." Cinder would ordinarily be worried that new recruits could be double agents, especially if they changed sides so quickly, but this girl looked too naive for such trickery. So then was she really going to give up destroying Cinder's gang just because Cinder was pretty? Cinder had to make sure, the idea not giving her any rest until she was a hundred and ten percent certain.

"So, you're really not going to fight me?"

"Yes."

"Like...really, _really_ , not going to fight me."

"Yes."

"For reals. No fighting at all? Not even a little exchange of negative words. Or a harsh stare?"

"Yup. You got it. Gonna keep it a hundred percent fight free between us," Ruby nodded her head up and down harshly, promising vehemently.

"Well...wow," Cinder said for a lack of better words.

"Alright, I'm gonna go sign up now. See you later boss." Ruby waved to Cinder before leaving the villainess's chambers.

* * *

"I still cannot believe that was how you came into the gang," Cinder said, concluding her reminiscing on how her and Ruby met for the first time. She was lying on her back on their double poster bed, the younger girl's head resting on her stomach as Cinder's fingers threaded through her short locks. "I thought it was a joke."

"But it was all earnest. I was super serious about joining you!" Ruby sat up at this so she could look into Cinder's eyes and convince her of this as the truth. The younger girl too had been thinking about the past but she'd rather think about the future, especially when it lay right next to her.

"But all because I was beautiful. What if I had been some ugly old hag, or a man? Then what?"

"Then that would have been different," Ruby admitted. "But I'm glad you're not any of those. I'm glad you're you." She turned around to lie on her stomach now, face first on Cinder's warm belly. Cinder's hand resumed it's stroking.

"Hah, do you only value me for my outside appearance?" Cinder breathed out, with a hint of amusement as she let her head sink into the soft pillows, her eyes trained on the canopy of their bed. It was a deep red. Her and Ruby's stuff came mainly in shades of red or black, both girl's liking the same color scheme and making there one less issue on what décor to put in their apartment.

"Your beauty was what captivated me at first, but it was you as a person that captured me for good, like a bird in a cage. You're so talented and smart and charming and you are powerful as well. I don't think there's anything you can mess up. Whatever you do turns out well for you. You're just that kind of person," Ruby expressed with fondness in her big silver eyes.

Cinder let out a chuckle at the girl's fascination with her. "If that's the case, then why am I not the boss of the Grimm anymore?"

Ruby wrinkled up her nose at this. "You know why. It's because I love you."

Cinder closed her eyes at this and let herself fall into another memory.


	8. Chapter 8

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter Seven: Cinder's Past

* * *

When Cinder started up her gang, it had been with the intention to swiftly become one of the most notorious gangs in all of Remnant's history. And her goal had been achieved rather easily. She was beautiful, powerful, and ambitious, and she used any asset or part of her personality that could help persuade those who stood in her way to either join her or to move to the side if they valued their lives. No one could stand up to her, not even Ozpin and his foolish school of child hunters and huntresses. Not even the Atlasian army with their guns and tanks. Her reign was secure and she controlled nearly every aspect of life in the cities. But, once an empire got too big, it was harder to control it and things slipped through the cracks. After all, it had happened to the Schnee family. Once power hungry monarchs that ruled Atlas, they had been kicked out of their own throne and were now forced to make a decent living by mining and selling dust.

So she knew she could expect trouble once her gang got to be too big. But she never expected trouble to come in the form of a small petite girl with honest eyes and a scythe that she wielded with terrifying ease. Cinder had no idea who the girl was and why she so ardently went after Cinder's gang but she wasn't going to let this girl make a mockery of her. There was no way that Cinder had braved whole armies and governments after her only to be taken down by a mere girl in a corset.

Cinder prepared herself for the inevitable battle that would occur between the two of them. Mentally and physically she trained as one by one her commanders fell to the girl's sharp blade. And when the moment had finally arrived upon the gang leader, she was shocked to find that the girl simply gave up. And why? Because Cinder was _pretty._

If Cinder had been told by anyone that this would ever happen to her, she would have laughed in their face before she shot them, telling them not to waste her time with stupid tales and ideas. But now it had happened. Cinder was in so much disbelief and shock that even for two months after the initial meeting of the two, after Ruby had signed up to join the gang-yes, the little rascal actually wanted to _work_ for Cinder now because the villainess was beautiful- Cinder would walk around her headquarters, attend all her meetings and all the evil excursions with a daft and dazed expression on her face. She wouldn't ever speak unless spoken too. That's how much she had been affected by Ruby's change.

But Cinder had been able to eventually snap out of the stupor and come to her senses. She then challenged Ruby to a fight but the girl had stubbornly insisted that she wouldn't dare raise a hand or weapon against Cinder and the match had gone unfulfilled. Which only vexed Cinder more. She couldn't figure this girl out at all. Despite her open and easy to read face, Cinder couldn't understand the motivation for the girl's sudden switch. She had hounded down the Grimm gang relentlessly and now she was working tirelessly for them, helping to ensure the gang succeeded. And with her help the organization saw higher profit margins, for the girl was wickedly talented with her semblance and her weapon. She looked like she would never harm a fly but once she hit a rampage...Cinder was honestly worried and felt a bit bad for the girl's opponents sometimes, who were on the receiving end of her ire.

But did the girl really only give up her quest because Cinder was pretty? This idea plagued Cinder, leaving her restless at night. Then one day she had finally cornered Ruby and demanded to know the truth, about why Ruby was working so hard for the Grimm gang when she had wanted nothing more than to tear them down from their place of power before.

Ruby, looking sheepishly at the floor and rubbing the back of her head, had mumbled out some words that Cinder had been unable to catch.

"What? What is it?" she had snapped, her lack of sleep making her very cranky and short tempered. More than usual. She tapped her nails impatiently against her thigh.

"I, uh, I'm...kind of...in love with you, I think," Ruby had softly said at last, in a timorous voice, and with wide and earnest eyes lifted up now at Cinder.

"Oh," was all Cinder could think to say, her face going blank. And this left her yet again in a flustered stupor for an extended length of time. What was going on? What was the deal with this Ruby girl? How could she be in love with Cinder? Cinder was a villain. One of the worst. She was manipulative, cold hearted and vindictive. She killed others as easily as she breathed. And Ruby was the opposite. She was sweet, kind, and always helping out others. She even picked up insects that found their way inside the gang's hideouts and let them out gently. She was a good person, minus her evil side that came out when she got angry. So what did she see in Cinder that caused her to love the older woman?

Not being able to take this pondering and constant worrying, for Cinder yet again lost more sleep over this, rather than gained sleep like she thought she would once she had accosted Ruby for answers, she approached the girl once more. Ruby was currently wiping down her weapon in the empty henchmen's locker room, trying to remove the last traces of gore on the silver steel.

"Why?" Cinder blurted out, coming to a rest by the girl but careful to keep out of range of her weapon. She saw what the girl could do with it. A professional butcher did less damage to flesh than she did.

"Why what?" Ruby had looked up, cocking her head to her side in confusion. Adorable confusion. _Gah!_ Cinder had to stop that. Ever since the girl had confessed her love to Cinder, all the black haired woman could do was be super hyper aware of the other girl at all times. It was infuriating. Beyond infuriating!

Cinder felt like a girl with a stupid high school crush. It was totally not like her.

Cinder cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her chest to get some control over this situation. So she could look as powerful and intimidating as she wanted to feel. "Why do you love me? I'm evil."

"Oh," Ruby said with realization and a smile graced her lips. Lips that Cinder wanted to kiss. _Not this again!_ The woman thought with a hint of fear and panic. She couldn't fail in love. It was going to make her soft. And a gang leader couldn't be soft. "It's because you're so awesome!" Was Ruby's simple answer, one that did not satisfy Cinder's curiosity.

"Awesome?" Cinder arched a brow. Ruby finished cleaning her weapon and let it fold back into a more manageable shape before she reattached it her hip where she normally carried it.

"Yea." Ruby nodded her head enthusiastically. "You're like female empowerment and stuff. You are a strong independent woman who gets things done her way and I admire that greatly."

"Ruby, I'm sure not many women would agree that I am a suitable role model to look up to," Cinder argued, feeling a sense of relief in her chest. So it seemed the type of love the girl felt for her was admiration. Cinder had no more reason to worry over this issue. Maybe the girl simply wanted to learn to be as strong as Cinder was when it came to using her powers. But then why did Cinder feel a small nag of pain in her chest? Was she sad about something? She shook her head to try to get rid of that sadness. "Anyways, if that is the only reason you joined me...then please leave the gang."'

"Why?" Ruby's brows furrowed up in a pained expression.

"Ruby," Cinder said with a heavy sigh as if this should be obvious. "You are obviously a very talented individual and I don't want you to waste your time in the gang. Sure, you've helped me a lot. But, you're a child. You deserve to have a better future than this."

"But you chose this path for yourself. Why can't I?" Ruby stood up at this, upset.

"Ruby, I didn't as a child dream for this to be my job. Things happened that lead me onto this path. Bad things." Cinder laid a gentle hand on Ruby's shoulder, wondering why she was worried about letting the girl down without hurting her feelings. Normally she would just kick someone out roughly and if they tried to argue with her than she would shoot them, shutting them up for good. "And I don't want you to take the same path as me. You still have time to turn your life around. To use your powers for good. You're just a child."

Ruby's eyes filled with anger. "I'm not a child. Stop calling me that! I'm an adult. I can make my own choices! My own!" Ruby stomped her foot.

Looked like it was time for Cinder to be harsher. "Ruby, no."

"Is this about me liking you?"

"What? No," the change in topic had momentarily thrown Cinder off. "This is about the sake of your future. Choose to do good with your abilities, like I couldn't with mine."

"But I want to work with you. I want to be by your side." Ruby was getting angrier and angrier, something that wasn't good. Cinder didn't want to be in the way of her ire.

"Stop looking up to me. You're delusional. Brain washed by my beauty," Cinder snorted.

"I...it's not like that. I want to help you. You said you didn't have a choice to becoming this villain...and I want to change that. I want you to have a normal life too. No one should be forced into a life choice they don't want."

"You are naive then if you think that!" Cinder spat back, unable to keep her cool. She was trying to let Ruby down easily but it wasn't working out. "Not everyone can have a fairy tale ending! A fairy tale story where a prince comes in and swoops up the princess in her arms and takes her away from the evil stepmother. My path has been set. And I like it the way it is." Cinder said this through gritted teeth. "I enjoy watching the fear dawn on people's faces when they see me enter a room. I enjoy the scent of warm blood as it gushes out of their bodies. I enjoy ripping money from helpless hands!" She placed a hand to her chest, her breath heaving up and down in exertion after nearly screaming this out.

"And maybe I do too!" Ruby shot back, saying something that Cinder hadn't suspected to be true of the girl. "Maybe I like being able to fight others, to be some sort of use to someone. For too long everyone has cast me aside because of the fact that I'm too young, or too dainty looking to do anything. They don't ever let me do anything, fearing I will hurt myself. I had dreams too. I wanted to be a huntress but I was rejected," the girl's anger had melted into something bluer, into a sadness that made the corner of her eyes leak. "And so here, at least I can do something. I can use my abilities. That's all I ever wanted."

Cinder was touched by the girl's speech but she had to remain tough and kept her voice harsh. "Ruby, you can still achieve that dream. You still have time to make good-"

"But I don't want it anymore. Now, more than ever I want...you, more than I've ever wanted anything else," Ruby said softly and with bashfulness. This made Cinder's face feel warm and her heart thump just a bit harder in her chest. "You're my dream," Ruby looked up at this, chuckling awkwardly. "Sorry, that...was really corny."

"No, it's alright. I liked it," Cinder blurted out before she could even stop herself. This made her face flush fully. She wasn't one to do that and so she felt even more embarrassed that she was blushing and thus blushed harder for it.

"Haha, sorry for flustering you. But you look so cute right now," Ruby smiled and laughed to herself, ruffling the back of her head sheepishly.

Cinder felt something stir in her that she thought never would again and she reached out one leather clad hand to grasp Ruby's soft cheek in it. "Ruby, it is you who is the cute one."

"Stop that, you're going to embarrass me to death," the girl said but in a manner that said she didn't really mind the words as much as she claimed to.

"I'm going to kiss you now Ruby," Cinder announced and the smaller girl's eyes got wide at this as an "eh?" cutely left her lips. "You said you loved me, but I need to check if you meant that and not admiration love." _And also to see if I harbor feelings for you of the romantic kind,_ Cinder said to herself, before she slowly pulled Ruby's face up to hers, giving the girl enough time to back out if she wanted to. But the girl merely maintained eye contact with her, lips parted in anticipation. When the two of their lips met only then did Ruby's eyes close.

The kiss was chaste and short and when Cinder pulled away she could feel her heart soaring in her chest. The kiss felt right. So that had confirmed her suspicions. She did indeed harbor something for Ruby. If not love than maybe lust? Or maybe it was love masquerading as lust? Only time would tell. And further kissing.

Ruby's eyes had softly fluttered up at this, roses blossoming on her cheeks. "Did that prove my feelings for you? When I said I loved you I meant...you know...in the kissing way," Ruby stammered, looking off to the side, unable to hold her gaze even with Cinder's.

"Then it's a good thing it seems I like kissing you," Cinder whispered and brought her lips to Ruby's trembling ones. The girl got more bold, letting her hands come up to clutch at Cinder's shoulders, the woman letting her free hand go to the back of Ruby's neck. They than had spent the better portion of the afternoon just making out.

Cinder's mouth watered at that memory.

"Hey, don't go off falling asleep on me!" Ruby pouted, slapping Cinder hard on the cheek to wake her up.

"I wasn't sleeping!" Cinder clarified, rubbing her red cheek, and jerking out of her recollections.

"Yes you were. And you were drooling!" Ruby drew herself closer to Cinder's face. The two of them were still on the bed where they had been lounging on before, thinking about the past. "Were you cheating on me? Were you thinking of someone else?"

Cinder let out a chuckle at that. There was no way she would do that but she didn't say that. "And what if I was?" was her coy question. She knew this would rile Ruby up. Just what Cinder wanted.

"Then I'll just have to make sure to erase your thoughts off of them with my body!" Ruby insisted and immediately straddled Cinder's waist, pinning the older woman's arms above her head. "I'm not going to lose you to them!"

"Then show me how much you love me, because right now I'm not very convinced," Cinder taunted, riling up the girl even more.

Ruby let out a growl and bit down hard on Cinder's collarbone, making the woman arch up with a barely stifled groan on her lips.

Yes, the memory of her and Ruby's kiss was sweet, but Cinder much preferred the girl's more aggressive actions, like spice to the sweet fluffy topping of whipped cream. And so she surrendered herself to the present.


	9. Chapter 9

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter Eight: A Date with a Bang

* * *

Ruby and Cinder were walking hand in hand down a main street in the city. Their hands were swinging together and Ruby was humming merrily to herself. She and Cinder had finally found time in their hectic schedule in order to go out on a proper date. Right now the two of them were dressed up nicely. Ruby in a white button down shirt and plaid red skirt and Cinder in a long red dress with a slit on the side to showcase a glimpse of her pale and smooth thigh, one that Ruby's gaze would return to ever so often. She was trying to hide the fact that she was looking but she wasn't doing a good job because Cinder noticed, but she just laughed to herself softly, not choosing to mention this. She would tempt and taunt Ruby purposefully with her body and get her energized for the later portion of the date that would be spent in much more private and closed quarters. She couldn't wait for that fun part. She was going to make Ruby scream out loud.

"So, what's the restaurant we are going over to?" Cinder asked as way of conversation. Ruby had insisted on keeping the details of the date a secret. Not that she was any good at keeping secrets. Cinder already had an idea of what exactly they would be doing today. Dinner and then a movie. She knew it was going to be an action movie about gangsters, but she didn't know where dinner would be held.

"It's a really good place," Ruby said as they paused to wait for the walk sign before crossing the street. People gave them appreciative looks. They both looked good. Cinder, a seductress in her red dress and with her hair in an updo, and Ruby cute in her short skirt. Very short. Suddenly Cinder felt a flare of protectiveness. How dare they look at _her_ Ruby like this. Her fingers tightened on the purse in her hold. She was half tempted to pull out the gun there and fire off a couple of rounds into the air, scaring off the people and leaving the two girl's with no staring as they walked to the restaurant.

Ruby was having much the same thoughts. Her hand tightened over Cinder's, the older woman's grip mimicking hers. How dare people look with dirty eyes at _her_ Cinder! Ruby was contemplating pulling out her scythe which had been packed neatly into the little tote bag slung over her shoulder. As soon as she showed it people would run because they knew by now that the Grimm leader was one who carried a scythe, even if they didn't know her face. Both girl's were glaring evilly at the people as they passed them by and this freaked out the people so much that they dropped their eyes and began to walk on the other side of the street to avoid getting so violently stared at that they could feel the blades the women wanted to plunge into their backs without the two even having to do anything.

"It's just a small place not far from here," Ruby answered Cinder vaguely as she eyed a man next to her who gulped and dove into a potted plant to avoid her.

"Come now, Ruby. Out with it. We both know you want to tell me," Cinder said with a playful lithe to her voice, death glaring another man who ran out into traffic to get as far from her as he could. There was a screech of tires and a loud scream and Cinder redirected her gaze to someone else.

"Noooooo," Ruby insisted, this time her eyes landing on a man peering out the window. Quickly he jerked back and closed the shades.

"Ruby," Cinder pouted. "Stop being so mean and tell me." The two girl's tone of voice was completely contradictory from the hard looks they were giving everyone on the street.

The two girls, satisfied that the people were leaving them alone and had effectively cleared out the street, sniffed in unison before turning their eyes back to one another, smiles on their lips.

 _Now she'll be safe from those lecherous stares!_ They thought in unison.

"But if I tell you, then what's the fun. It's supposed to be a surprise date. Emphasis on the surprise part."

It seemed like Ruby was going to play hard. Nothing that Cinder couldn't deal with. "Please Ruby?" she stuck out her bottom lip and batted her full lashes at the girl. This had the intended affect because Ruby's resolve hiccuped. "Well...I mean, I can't tell you." She didn't say this as insistently as before.

"Please? Ruby I need to know," Cinder husked and rubbed circles on the back of Ruby's hand with her thumb. The girl began to blush and Cinder knew she just needed to give her one last push before she caved in. She brought her mouth closer to her ear but before she could so much as say a single word, Ruby's Scroll went off.

Ruby let out a little grumble. "What now?" She pulled her hand away from Cinder's in order to pull out her Scroll. Looking at the caller id, a frown grew on her lips. Cinder already knew who it was that was calling without having to look.

"Mercury...this better be damn good if you're calling to interrupt my date time," Ruby's voice was low.

"It is boss. I swear! And you know I wouldn't usually call you on your date since last time I did you gave me a date with your fists," at this Mercury winced at the memory but shouldered on. His face had looked like it had gotten rammed by a truck. "But there's been an attack. One of our gang busts went sour because some of the men got spotted by some huntress from Beacon academy!"

"What? Which operation is this?" Ruby began to rub the bridge of her nose, getting stressed already. She could feel her blood pressure rising. There was no way this could be happening. All this time spent waiting for a date with Cinder and it was interrupted by some idiot huntress.

"The one by Ronald street."

"I sent twenty men for that one. How are they getting taken down by _one_ woman?"

"They can barely hold her off, because their getting distracted by her giant boobs and are unable to counter attack her attacks!"

Ruby resisted the urge to slap herself in the face at her henchmens stupidity. "Fine, I'm on my way. I'll take her out."

Then she hung up and rolled back her shoulders, getting out of her date mindset and into her battle one. "What's the situation?" Cinder asked, loathe to see her girlfriend go before they could even make it to the restaurant.

"Some huntress is busting our operation and the men we hired seem to have dicks for brains because their too busy ogling her to hit her right." Ruby let out a sigh. "I won't be long. If it's one then I won't even have to worry about breaking out a sweat."

"And I suppose you want me to stay here?" Cinder said with a bit of a smile. "I would like to help you with your fights, if-"

"Not now Cinder, we already had this discussion and my position stays the same on the issue," Ruby gave Cinder a hard look to which the woman shrugged at. Ruby was really stubborn when she wanted to be.

"Alright," Cinder spoke. If Ruby was going to make her wait then perhaps she could do it at the restaurant they were supposed to be at. "Just tell me the restaurant's name and I'll wait for you there." She said this casually and smoothly.

"It's just down the block. It's called-" Ruby paused at this, closing her mouth before turning narrowed eyes at Cinder. "Oh, you're good. You almost got me there. Later." And then with that Ruby was gone, a lone rose petal landing in Cinder's outstretched hand due to her activated semblance.

"Darn. I almost got her," Cinder mussed with a sigh before she lifted the petal up to her nose and took a deep inhalation. It smelled sweet and delicate like Ruby did. "Hurry up," Cinder whispered to the petal. "I'm hungry." And Cinder wasn't referring to food.

* * *

Ruby made her way over to where the gang had been positioned. The smell of fire reached her nose, mixed in with the powdery residue that hung in the air after a weapon utilizing dust was fired. She stopped on top of the warehouse that overlooked the scene below her. Spread out on the concrete parking lot by the warehouse were her men, most of them knocked out by the huntress who was nowhere to be seen. But the fires she had caused raged on in small batches, one of them edging dangerously into becoming larger. The truck that was meant to be loaded up with dust that had been stolen from the Schnee company was left idling, the cases of dust spread haphazardly around, colorful powder on the ground. _Idiot. The dust can catch on fire. The huntress should have been more careful with it._

Checking that the coast was clear, Ruby dropped twenty feet to the ground, rushing towards the spilled dust. Already one of the flames had gotten closer to it, and wishing she had her cloak, the younger girl settled for stripping one of her unconscious workers free of his jacket and using it to swat the fire with. The flames were hot and Ruby's cheeks grew warm from the closeness. But with strong waves of her hand she was able to put it out. She was wondering if she should put the others out too when there was the sound of a gun going off inside the warehouse. Ruby turned to look at it, the door cracked partially open into the dark interior. She wondered if that was the huntress. There was a louder gun shot this time, closer, and then a cry. "Out with a bang!" At that a Grimm gang member crashed through the doors, knocking them wide open before he skidded to a stop in front of Ruby's feet where he lay still.

"Well, well. Looks like there's someone else here. You also part of this operation?" asked the huntress, cracking her knuckles and gesturing to the knocked out men on the concrete as she exited the shadows of the warehouse. The shadows melted off of her face, leaving Ruby with a clear look as to who it was. She had changed since Ruby had last seen her. She was taller and her outfit was really skimpy, her boobs practically spilling out of her thin tank top. Were those the uniforms that Beacon issued? If so, then Ruby was glad she hadn't gone there.

"Yang?" she questioned hesitantly.

This paused the girl's cocky walk towards the parking lot. Her eyebrows rose up and she lifted the shades off of her eyes. "Holy shit-Ruby, that's you? Holy hell I couldn't tell. These sunglasses make everyone look different!"

"Yang!" Ruby rushed over and hugged her sister, the blonde nearly stumbling under the force of Ruby's hug. But she went with it, stepping back two steps to regain her balance before picking her sister up in a bear hug and spinning her around.

"Ruby!"


	10. Chapter 10

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter Nine: Family Reunions are Hard

* * *

"Yang, it's so nice to see you!" Ruby admitted as Yang set her sister down after twirling her around forty six times in a row.

"Same!" Yang exclaimed happily, stemming her hands on her hips. They smiled at each other goofy, flowers and sparkles floating around them before Yang lifted up her fist and punched Ruby on the top of the head.

"Ow! Yang, what was that for?" Ruby whined, as both hands came up to her head to clutch at the hurt spot.

"Ruby, where the hell were you all this time! Me and dad have been worried out of our minds over you! You just disappeared on us!"

"I didn't mean to!" Ruby said, removing her hands from her head, the pain having subsided now. This comment went largely ignored by the blonde who knocked her sister on the top of her head again. This time harder. "Ouch! Yang!" Ruby's hands flew back up to her head and tears came into her eyes. Yang just continued her diatribe.

"And you didn't even call us or anything to reassure us you were okay. We wouldn't mind you running away so much if you just checked in with us and let us know everything was okay! That would have been the cool thing to do it, but nooooo, you didn't even do it!"

"Yang, it was kind of a complicated situation. I meant to call. Really, I did!" Ruby grabbed her sister by her shoulder's and tried to shake her to get her attention but the blonde was looking off to the side, her left hand in the air, fingers rising as she ticked off some things one by one. It was like she was talking more to herself and Ruby's shaking did nothing to the girl.

"Firstly, I don't even understand why you would run away? Did you not love me and dad anymore? Or Zwei? Secondly, you took all the cookies in the house when you left. And you know how much I love my sweets, even though I don't actively advertise it like you do. Thirdly, you left a mess in your room before you ran away. Didn't you even think to be considerate enough to at least clean it up? That way me and dad wouldn't have to cry when we cleaned it up while we waited for you to come back. Fourthly, you didn't take Zwei on a walk out like we agreed to so he pissed all over my boots. My good boots. It took me forever to clean them. And lastly," at this Yang took a deep breath of air so that her rant could continue. "Do you _really_ not love us? Is that why you left without a word for a whole friggen year!?" Yang finished, and raised her last finger, before all of them curled into a fist and she punched Ruby on the top of her head for a third time.

"Yang, would you quit that!" Ruby cried out, getting a touch annoyed with her older sister now. She could feel a bump growing on her skull. "Can you just let me speak?"

Yang let out a petulant huff. "Fine," she blew up a long strand of her blonde hair.

Ruby let out a sigh herself, gave her head bump another rub and then slowly started her explanation. "It was never supposed to be like this. When I left the house that day it was for a short trip. It was to send in my application for Beacon Academy."

"You applied there?" Yang interrupted and Ruby let out a "Yang! Let me tell the story!" so the blonde complied and shut up.

"It was my dream to be a student there. But I got rejected because I was too young. So I got upset. I took to kicking some trash cans around to get rid of my anger when I overheard some evil schemes. I decided to stop them in order to impress the headmaster Ozpin. But...he wasn't impressed." Ruby looked off sadly to the side before she continued. "So I fought some more bad guys. That too didn't work out too well. And I got angrier and angrier at the rejections. I then took it upon myself to hunt down the entirety of this gang and their head honchos."

Yang let out a low whistle. "That's pretty impressive sis. But it doesn't explain why you were gone. Or why you couldn't give me and dad a quick call or even an 'ok' text. Literally two letters."

Ruby cringed guilty. "Well, I got kind of wrapped up with my mission to the point that I slept on city sidewalks, ate out of trash cans and didn't even bathe all so I could find them. It was rough. I almost got offed like two times while I was out looking for them. I had to live a life on the run and I didn't want them to be led to my house, to you and dad and Zwei, so I didn't go back home."

"That is gross," Yang commented honestly, the fact that Ruby had nearly died twice going over her blonde head. "I know you're a teenager but you need to take care of your body hygiene."

Ruby shot her sister a look. She was telling her about how she fought a gang of murderers, having come close to death twice, and slept out in the cold weather, possibly at risk of getting sick from the bad shelter and the rotten food she ate, and her sister was more worried about Ruby not showering? Ruby wondered once again how her sister had gotten into Beacon with her low IQ and propensity for stupidity. Proof of school unfairness. Yang had probably slept her way in. She'd done it several times before, in order to get things she wanted. Once to get into a good middle school. Another time to get into a club. And yet another time just to merely get free food from the guy at the street cart. The food wasn't even that good, so Ruby had no idea why her sister had wanted it badly enough to sleep with the guy.

Ruby merely sighed and continued on. "And when I finally got to the boss battle, things didn't quite end as I expected them too." Oh boy, here came the hard to explain part."Ikindafellinloveatfirstsightwiththeevilbossandjoinedhergangandthenbecameleaderofit!" Ruby said in one big breath, letting out a big relieved gasp when she finished.

"You joined a gang!" Yang cried out, her purple eyes wide in shock. "And now you're the leader of it! And in love with the evil ex-boss!" Yang's hands went up to her hair and she tugged on it to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "Ruby, do you know how wrong this is! You've turned to a life of evil! Of crime! Why would you do that!"

"I told you it was complicated. You wouldn't understand it, as you've never been in love before!" Ruby crossed her arms over her chest and looked away.

"I _so_ have been in love! But never with a villain! You stop it right now. You drop everything you're doing and come home!" Yang pointed at the ground, angry at her little sister's antics.

"No!"

"You do it, or so help me-!" Yang let the threat hang in the air.

"You don't scare me anymore!" Ruby said, sticking out her tongue at Yang. This only made the blonde more upset.

"Ruby Robin Rose!" Yang used Ruby's full name and the brunette now knew the girl was really mad at her. "You will come with me right this instant. It's time for you to stop playing these childish games of running a gang and go back to your school!"

"They are not games! I've managed to expand the gang's influences even further than they've ever been before. I'm at the top of my world right now, Yang, and I'm not coming home because I have my own home, with my own people who love and care for me!"

Yang let out an angry gasp. "Ruby, stop being stubborn! And come home. To your _real_ home. If you won't then I'll force you myself."

"You can't make me."

"Can too!" Yang argued back childishly. She may be two years older than Ruby but other than her body, she really wasn't any more mature.

"I'm not going back, Yang." Ruby said this more soberly, her voice suddenly soft. She dropped her hands to her side. "This city is my home now. This gang is my life. I have people who look up to me. Who rely on me. Which was more than what you or dad or my old friend's ever expected of me. So, I'm sorry Yang. But I can't go back with you."

The words struck Yang hard and she tried hard not to let her mouth curl into a sour frown. What had happened to her sister to make her like this? Was she brainwashed? It didn't matter, Yang would find a way to bring her baby sister back eventually. "I see." She said, unable to stop the sadness from leaking into her voice.

"I'm sorry that that's how it is, but...things have changed," Ruby placed a warm hand on her sister's arm. She let a wry smile fill her face and Yang tried to smile back but failed. "And now, since you've attacked my gang, and ruined the goods we were trying to steal, I'm afraid you leave me with no choice."

"What?" Yang's head jerked up at this, uncertain that what she had just heard had really come from her sister's mouth. Ruby's hand had left her arm and the girl was backing up to make space for Crescent Rose, pulling out her scythe from her bag, the weapon coming to full size in front of her. She brandished it to her left, letting the gleam of the blade catch in the sun. Ruby had built this weapon herself and had added more features to it. Yang never remembered it being this big before.

Yang crooked a finger at it, her arm too limp with stupefaction to successfully lift it up fully. "Uh, Ruby, what is that?"

"You know what it is, silly," Ruby said, but there was no smile to her words. "It's Crescent Rose. You saw me build it myself. I've merely added additions to it to make it better. More durable. And I clean it constantly, of course. You'd be surprised how much it can wear down. Human flesh and bone is really bad for keeping the blade sharp."

"Human flesh and bone?" Yang echoed, her words sticking in her dry throat. Was her sister...a killer?

Ruby let out a sigh at this. "Look, quit trying to stall me Yang. It's bad enough I have to do this to my own sister without you dragging this out."

Yang felt a cold sweat break out on her skin and she took two steps back, her knees feeling too weak to support her weight so she had to sit down onto the ground with a harsh thud, the concrete jarring her spine bone.

"Ruby, don't be ri-ridicolous," Yang stammered out, completely unnerved by her sister's neutral expression. The girl was edging towards her, her scythe by her side, reflecting the pallid and sweaty face of Yang. "I'm your sister..-why, why are you doing this?"

Ruby clicked her tongue, losing patience for her sister's stupidity and slowness. "You attacked my operation. And I need to send a message. No huntress or hunter who foils my plans will get away with it. Including, sisters," Ruby hissed the last word out and placed the tip of her blade under Yang's chin, lifting her face up so she could see the fear in her sister's face. She really didn't want to hurt her sister, but she was the boss of the Grimm. She had a role to fulfill. And she was going to do. Do it for Cinder.

"Ruby!" the panicked cry ripped from Yang's mouth but she made no move. She was too paralyzed by shock and fear. What had happened to her sister? She knew the girl had anger issues but this was something else. She was deranged! Deranged!

Ruby smiled now, something cute and innocent, keeping in mind what Cinder had said about how smiles could scare her opponents more than her trying to act tough could. "Yang!"

"Ruby!" Yang cried out with more force this time.

"Yang!" Ruby sang back and then lifted the blade from Yang's neck, and over her head before she swung it down.

"RUBY!"

A flock of birds nearby spiraled up and into the air, losing feathers from how quickly they had risen into the air, startled by the pain filled screams that followed the utterance of that name.


	11. Chapter 11

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter Ten: Too Many Sweets can be a Bad Thing

* * *

 **A/N: To balance out the harsh last chapter, here's one that's sweeter.**

"Ruby."

"No."

"Ruby." A stern voice, an even sterner look accompanying it. Ruby ignored both.

"No."

A sigh of exasperation. "If it hurts we need to go get help."

"No. I don't need to. I can take the pain. I'm a big girl!" Ruby insisted and then winced in pain as her loud words caused her jaw to throb angrily.

"Ruby, it's only going to get worse," Cinder gently insisted, trying to reach over the table to touch Ruby on the hand but the girl turned her back to her girlfriend and crossed her arms over her chest. Cinder sighed. "Honestly, you can kill people without batting an eye but you don't want to go to a _dentist?_ "

"I'm not scared or anything of them," Ruby said, which Cinder knew definitely confirmed that she was. "I just don't like their stupid looking tools and their stupid little music that they play in the waiting rooms."

Cinder rubbed the bridge of her nose. How could she convince Ruby? She would have to choose her words carefully. "Ruby. You're whole mouth could get infected from this. It looks bad. You're whole cheek is already inflamed and swollen and it's only going to get worse from there."

Ruby shrugged violently. "So?"

That approach-the rational one- wasn't working. So it was time to move onto another. The what-would-everyone-think-if-the-boss-looked-like-a-chipmunk approach. "Ruby, what would your henchmen think of their boss if they saw she looked like a chipmunk. What would your enemies think?"

Ruby shrugged again, her shoulders stabbing the air. "I can always wear a mask. Besides, you said it was cute."

Well, that approach didn't work either. Onto the next one.

"Ruby, how will you eat your cookies?"

She knew this got the girl's attention because she stiffed up. "The normal way, like I usually do." Her voice was a bit tight and defensive.

"Hmm, you and I both know that it won't work like that. You need to use both sides of your mouth to enjoy a cookie to the fullest. And your toothache won't let you do that." Cinder used a coy tone of voice to say this, leaning more over the table so Ruby could hear her clearly.

Ruby's shoulder's shook with annoyance and Cinder pressed on, knowing she could get her to break.

"And if you can't eat cookies, then you know that it means other people will be able to do so. They'll take all the cookies away from you."

She could hear a frustrated growl come from Ruby. "Fine! Fine!" she threw her hands up in the air. "I'll go to the stupid-ouch!-dentist," Ruby quieted down after her loud cry of ouch because she had aggravated her tooth by talking loudly.

"I'll set an appointment, boss," Cinder got up from the table and went to go schedule one.

"There's no need to rush," Ruby called after her, as she eyed how quickly Cinder moved to the phone. But the woman was gone and Ruby was alone in her room, rubbing her swollen cheek. "Maybe it does hurt. A little." She winced. "Okay. A lot." She liked pain but only if Cinder gave it to her. And this tooth most certainly wasn't Cinder so it had to go.

* * *

A very disgruntled Cinder opened the door of the car standing outside the office building with one hand as she held up a very out of it Ruby with her other. The girl was smiling and starry eyed, her eyes not focusing on any one spot. "Cinder," she slurred, tugging on the woman's shirt as said woman gently tried to get Ruby to sit in the backseat without squirming so she could buckle her in. It wasn't working so well. "Cinder. Cinder," Ruby slurred again, giggling at the end when Cinder snapped out an irritated "what?"

"You're very pretty," Ruby said, giggling and grabbing her blushing cheeks as if not able to believe she had just said that out loud. She wiggled her body back and forth at this.

"Yes Ruby, you've only said that a million times. Now would you sit still? I'm trying to get you in the car." Cinder tugged the seatbelt around the girl's waist but she was sliding down in the seat to the floor, into a boneless pile of a person.

"But I'd much rather get in you," Ruby pointed out.

"Ruby, now is not the time for flirting. We need to leave before the police come," Cinder grunted out as she pulled Ruby up by her armpits and sat her back down.

"The police?" Ruby asked, cocking her head to hear what more Cinder had to say but misjudged how far to tilt it and smacked Cinder right in the nose.

"Ruby!" Cinder cried out, grabbing her offended nose and pushing Ruby's head upright with her other hand.

"That's my name!" the girl giggled and let her hand join the one that was on her head. She curled her fingers around it and brought Cinder's hand so close into her sight of vision that her nose was pressed up against the warm flesh. "You're hands are so, so, nice. I know where I'd like them."

Cinder let out a disgruntled sigh. It was bad enough dealing with a loopy Ruby. Now she was both loopy and horny. She tried to free her hand but the girl was too strong for this. "Ruby let go of my hand. We're going to get in trouble if we don't go soon."

"Where are we going? Is it to bed?" Ruby asked as she began to lick and nibble at the back of Cinder's hand like it was a cookie.

"Yes Ruby, to bed. Just sit still." Cinder could hear an explosion behind her go off and she cringed. The wail of approaching sirens was distant for now but soon it would get louder.

"Uh, Cinder, is everything alright there? Are we good to go?" Mercury asked from the front seat, craning his head over his shoulder.

"You know what, yea. Just hit the gas," Cinder instructed, shoving Ruby over easily and pulling herself into the back seat, hooking the door closed behind her with her heel. She gave up on buckling the girl in. Surely she'd be fine.

"Got it," Mercury hit the gas and the car lurched forward and away from the wreck that was left of the dentist's office.

"Oh wow, that place has pretty fireworks," Ruby commented as she sat up and looked out the back window. She was seeing the flaming dentist's office, something she herself caused to happen but probably wasn't very aware of.

"That's not fireworks," Cinder told her, sitting up properly on her seat too.

"Then what is it?"

"You set the place on fire."

"I did?" Ruby's drugged face tried to make a surprised expression but it only made her look like she had to take a shit.

"Yes, you got upset when you woke up from the anesthesia after your tooth got taken out. You were scared that the dentist was a monster and took out your scythe and started hacking things and people to pieces. And then I had to set the place on fire so that there wouldn't be a crime scene," Cinder explained.

"Wow." Ruby shook her head. "I can't believe you did that Cinder. How mean of you!"

Cinder tsked angrily. "I wasn't the one who went crazy-"

But Ruby was already off on a different topic. "Can we make out now?"

"No." Was the flat answer.

"Not even a little?" Ruby pouted, clasping her hands in front of her chest and sticking out her bottom lip.

"No."

"Aww, you're so mean. Super meany Cinder!" Ruby began to swing her legs back and forth petulantly on the seat. "Mercury, do something about Cinder!" the girl kicked the back of the driver's seat and Mercury went face first into the wheel. The car swerved to the right into a water hydrant as Cinder let out an angry cry of "Ruby!"

That was the last time Cinder offered to go with Ruby to the dentist. From then on the woman put a restriction on how many cookies Ruby could eat so she wouldn't get another cavity. And she made sure the girl thoroughly brushed her teeth each night and day. Ruby wasn't too ecstatic about the idea.


	12. Chapter 12

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter 11: An Obligatory Trip to the Beach

* * *

"We're finally here! The beach!" Ruby cheered as soon as she stepped out of the black van that had brought her and several other gang members to the beach. She didn't even wait for the van to fully park before she jumped out, a colorful beach umbrella under her arm and folding chair in the other.

"Ruby, wait!" Cinder cried out after the girl but she was already a red black blur, kicking up clouds of sand as she sped towards the water, causing the more slowly walking people to get covered by the dust she left in her wake. Cinder sighed and let herself more slowly out of the car. She shouldn't be shocked by Ruby's impatience. The girl had wanted to go to the beach since the first time the weather got the least bit sunny. But there was barely any time with all the work she had to do so it was only now that Ruby had a full day to enjoy the nice weather.

"Boss is sure happy to be here," Emerald commented. The green haired woman, who was Cinder's personal assistant just like Mercury was more or less Ruby's, had come on the trip to protect the dark haired woman. In fact, another two to three vans pulled up into the beach's parking lot, members of the Grimm gang hopping out, clad in their usual black. But to fit better into the environment, they were wearing swim trunks along with their Grimm masks which sported sunglasses on them.

"Secure the perimeter of the beach," Cinder instructed the three dozen men. "I want men stationed in the parking lot, inspecting those who arrive and the goods they carry. I want men around the public restrooms, making sure that the people there do not harm Ruby when she goes to use the bathroom. And I want men next to and near the water and our blanket. But I don't want to see any of you, nor do I want to hear you unless it's necessary. Am I clear?"

"Yes!" The men gave quick salutes to Cinder before dividing themselves into groups and delegating the tasks among themselves. Cinder had been their boss once before and they still respected her highly, following her orders without question.

"Emerald, Mercury," Cinder now turned to the two who had driven here with her and Ruby. "Carry this stuff over to the beach. Quickly, before Ruby gets carried away. She tends to do that if you leave her for too long in an excitable state by herself." Emerald nodded her head and piled on several bags holding towels, food, and beach games, onto her shoulders. Mercury popped out of the driver's seat and took the folded chairs, the cooler of drinks, and another umbrella. Cinder led the way to the beach empty handed, her flip flops mostly protecting her feet from the burning sand.

The water wasn't far from the parking lot but it took a while to reach, the sand dunes slowing them down. When they got closer to the water, Cinder noticed that Ruby had already set up her rainbow colored umbrella and folding chair, and discarded her sleeveless red hoodie top and shorts, no doubt so she could go into the water.

"Set up the stuff here," Cinder pointed at the spot with the stuff. "I'm going to go fetch Ruby or else she'll never think to put sunscreen on." Mercury and Emerald nodded their heads and got to work, discussing among themselves on the best way to position the objects.

Cinder took off her flip flops and held them up in one hand, letting her soles hit the cooler and more compact sand that lay next to the water. She could see Ruby already thigh deep in the waves, splashing the water when a tide would hit her. "Ruby!" Cinder waved her free hand as she called out, trying to get the girl's attention.

"Cinder! Come in, the water's just right!" Ruby invited over, her face one of clear and open joy. She was like a little kid upon waking up on Christmas and finding presents under their tree. Cinder hated to cut that joy short but she had to put sunscreen on Ruby's skin. The girl was extremely sensitive. Her fair skin would burn and then Ruby would be in pain and Cinder didn't want that.

"You have to put sunscreen on first!" Cinder told her and she could see Ruby's shoulders slump down a bit. "Aw, but I just got in here."

"Ruby, no. You know what happens when you don't put sunscreen on before going into the water."

"But I waited so long for this!"

"If you've waited three months for this, you can wait five minutes more. The beach is not going anywhere." Cinder hated being stern with the younger girl, it made her feel like a mother (ugh, something that Cinder did not want to think about, especially about how Ruby was ten years her junior) but sometimes Ruby was too stubborn for her own good, or did things that she shouldn't.

"Fine," Ruby huffed and stomped out of the water towards Cinder. The girl was wet and cold as Cinder draped an arm around her shoulder, the two walking back to where a giant blanket had been spread out by Mercury and Emerald, the two who had already shed their outer clothes and were in their respective bathing suits. Emerald was wearing a pale green bikini and shades on her nose. Mercury was wearing a pair of gray speedo's and his metal legs gleamed in the sun. When Ruby saw him she let out a laugh and pointed at his getup. "Where'd you get those lame speedos from?"

Mercury's cheeks flushed in embarrassment but he didn't dare reprimand his boss for the comment. "I've never been to the beach before, so my mom helped pick them out for me."

This made Ruby laugh even more and even Cinder and Emerald were letting out a couple of snickers, looking at him with amusement in their eyes. "Who even shops with their mom anymore!" Ruby blubbered out from between laughs.

Mercury's embarrassment only grew but he could not say anything about it or risk angering the boss. "The stuff is all in place." He tried to change the topic as his hands not so sneakily made to cover his speedos.

"Pass me the sunscreen, and a towel," Cinder held out her hand to Emerald who pulled out the required items from one of the bags. "Ruby, turn around." Ruby did so obediently, sitting down cross legged on the blanket as Cinder took to drying her shoulders, chest, arms, and back, so that she could have a dry surface to rub the lotion on. Ruby simply looked adorable in her small black bikini with the red rose petals down the side. Cinder gently covered all the needed area and as soon as she was done, Ruby bolted up, ready to dive into the sea again.

"Ruby, wait. You need to let it dry." Ruby let out a huff but sat back down, wiggling around impatiently. "Here, you can help me do my back. It'll take your mind off of the ocean for a bit." Cinder took off her tank top, revealing to all her bikini top. It was red with gold swirls and it didn't cover much of her cleavage leaving little to the imagination. Normally Ruby would have been all over Cinder at just the sight, but the girl was too distracted by the urge to run into the water and so she merely spread the lotion on Cinder's back obediently, looking back and forth from Cinder's skin to the waters.

A small frown housed itself on Cinder's lips. Hmm, maybe she could fix this somehow? "Do my chest too." She turned around so that Ruby could have a more generous view of her chest but the girl simply rubbed the lotion on, not even attempting to sneak a little touch. Cinder's frown deepened, but she resolved to put the issue to the back of her mind, confident that once Ruby had gotten the beach out of her system, Cinder could get her daily dose of Ruby.

"Can I go now?" Ruby asked Cinder, nearly bouncing on her toes and eyes wide and pleading. Cinder was tempted not to let her go. She really wanted to do something to get Ruby out of that bikini, but she supposed it would have to wait later. "Go ahead."

"Yay!" the words were barely out of Ruby's mouth before the girl rushed to the water, whooping loudly and startling the people around her.

"Mercury, Emerald, go after her and make sure she doesn't get too out of hand, or bored. I'm going to tan in the meanwhile. And no interruptions."

"Sure thing," Emerald nodded her head but Mercury didn't look so taken with the idea. "But, the salt water will get into my legs and rust them. I just got new ones after Ruby drove over them last time."

Cinder arched a brow. "Mercury, do I pay you to complain?"

The gray haired man paused, unsure if this was a trick question or not. "Uh, nooo?" he said at last, confused.

"That's right, I don't. So go out there and play in the water with Ruby."

"Right." Was his downcast reply.

Emerald took Mercury by the elbow and led him towards the water. Cinder then took to relaxing herself on the blanket and curling up her hair into an updo so that she could tan her back more easily.

Ruby was excited to see Mercury and Emerald join her. "Come on into the water guys. It's great!"

The trio then spent the good portion of the day playing around. Ruby took to challenging them to a swimming competition to a small island away from the shore, which she won and which almost made Mercury drown as his legs short circuited. Emerald had to revive him and Ruby had immediately demanded the trio to have a splashing fight (which she assured wouldn't lead to Mercury drowning) in which she splashed such giant waves of water that she knocked both of them underwater several times, the waves easily dwarfing them and pounding onto the shore. It scared some of the people away because they thought a tsunami or something was coming, but it was only Ruby, whirling around the water like a dervish with a light giggle.

Then after that it had been time for a snack break, which Mercury and Emerald couldn't be happier about. Keeping up with the boss was rough on them, the girl having insane strength and energy in her body. Cinder pulled out the wrapped sandwiches for them and the chilled drinks, and the quartet ate as they talked. Well, Ruby talked. She was all words and excitement, going on and on about how much fun she had so far. Cinder was glad to see the girl ecstatic, and she lapped up her joyful expression like a thirsty man in a desert.

While they sat, one of the couples who were playing with a frisbee not so far away from the gang's blanket, had their frisbee sail out of their reach. It sailed towards the back of Ruby's head, and would no doubt hit her before one of the duo could grab it back. Before they could yell out a warning, there was the sound of a bullet firing and the frisbee went straight to the ground, a smoking hole in it. The couple startled, shocked by this and turned to their left to see a man in black shorts and a Grimm mask wearing sunglasses, settle down back into the sand pit he had dug for himself, a gun in one hand and walkie talkie in the other as the sand slowly poured over him and began covering him once more. "Threat eliminated," he reported into it, slowly disappearing under the sand, his eyes doing one last scan over the couple. "Keeping an eye on the possible offenders."

The couple felt uncomfortable and decided they had spent enough time on the beach. They packed up, eyeing the patch of sand the man was under warily.

"Alright, time to do more beach stuff!" Ruby got up after her meal.

"No swimming after eating," Cinder reminded her and Ruby nodded her head. "Yes, I know. I was going to play volleyball with Mercury and Emerald."

The two henchmen tried to not groan out loud at this. Playing volleyball with Ruby was like asking to end up with broken bones or missing teeth. The girl went full out with her strength and semblance. But they couldn't reject the idea and so with dread in their limbs they went up to the net. Ruby already had the ball in her hands and was squeezing it (making the two henchmen feel uneasy as they imagined it was their heads in her grasp), eager to get started. "I get to serve first, since it's two on one," she said and then jumped up, smacking the ball hard into the ground. Mercury jumped to the right and Emerald to the left to dodge the comet heading straight for them. The ball hit the ground, making a loud sound from the impact, kicking up dust and leaving a crater where it struck.

"Aww, guys, you can't dodge the ball. You're supposed to hit it." Ruby pouted, hands on her hips.

Emerald and Mercury shot looks to one another. They were hoping they could get away with not having to hit the ball but... "It was nice knowing you," Emerald told Mercury.

"Same," the man told her with a look of grim determination. This was their job. It was full of dangers every day. And so what if most of the dangers they faced to their lives were caused by Ruby? Money was money, a job was a job. They didn't have many options. So sucking it up, they got up to their feet.

"I'll serve," Emerald said and both of them took up positions, ready for battle. The ball barely went over the net before Ruby had risen up to intercept it and spiked it down. The ball hit Emerald straight in the face before she had a chance to move and she bodied the ground, flat on her back.

"We have a casualty!" Mercury screamed out and kneeled down next to her. Her eyes were white spinning circles, there was blood coming down her nose, a red mark on her forehead and some sort of ghost was coming out of her mouth that suspiciously looked like a miniature and pale version of her.

"Is she okay?" Ruby came over to their side, bending over, hands on her knees and confused and worried look on her face. "Emerald, you're supposed to hit the ball with your hands not your face."

"That's not the issue here!" Mercury was beginning to feel panic creep in. "Her spirit is trying to leave her body. Shove it back in!" Mercury pressed down on the head of the spirit but it proved to be tougher than he thought to get it back in.

This seemed to make Ruby realize the severity of the situation. "Nooooo! Emerald don't leave us!" She dropped to her knees and pushed on the spirit as well. But the spirit giggled at their attempts and started wiggling back and forth. Still, they weren't going to give up so easily.

By the time they finally managed to get it back in, the sun had begun to set on the horizon. Emerald woke up as soon as the soul went back in. She sat up, coughing harshly. "What, what happened?" she croaked out, her voice hoarse.

"Phew, we almost lost you there," Ruby wiped her forehead with the back of her hand in relief as she sat back on her haunches.

"I almost died?!" Emerald seemed shocked by this.

"Yup," Ruby said cheerily as Mercury plopped down in relief onto his backside. He had been really worried there. "But it's all okay. Now we can finish playing the game." Ruby lifted up the volleyball and Mercury and Emerald immediately began to put their hands up and shake them. "Come on, it won't be that bad this time. I'll go easy on you."

"Nooooooooo!" They both cried out.

At this Cinder picked her head up from where it was resting on the blanket. Strange, it seemed like she had heard her henchmens screams. Shrugging, she went back to resting and turned to tan her front side.

Another hour or two passed, by which the trio who had been playing volleyball came back to the blanket. Emerald was sporting black and blue bruises on her face, had blood dribbling down her nose, and was holding her wrist which was no doubt broken. Mercury's face also looked like he had been in a professional showdown with a boxer and he was slightly limping, his arm slung around Emerald's shoulders to hold him up. Ruby had promised to go easy on them, that was the only reason why they were still alive.

"What happened to you two?" Cinder asked as she pulled up her shades. Had there been a breech on the beach? Ruby was walking in back of them, smiling and without a scratch. The only reason they had stopped the game was because Ruby had popped the last of the balls. They had gone through all twenty balls that Emerald had packed and now had nothing else to use, which the two henchmen couldn't be more happier about. Finally, an end to their torment.

"We were playing volleyball. It was so much fun, wasn't it guys?" Ruby beamed at her henchmen who only sighed. "Sure thing boss," they said in unison. They couldn't stand to break her smile apart.

"Good, why don't the two of you take a small break and then come back here," Cinder instructed them and both knew what it was she meant by small break.

"I'll tell the other gang members about it too, we'll get the beach cleared out," Emerald offered and Cinder nodded her head. Ruby was oblivious. She was busy guzzling some water down, parched from the long game.

"Alright, Cinder said the boss and her need a break!" Emerald hollered out.

"You know what that means," Mercury added and on their words the men who had hidden themselves popped out from under the sand, or from out of trash cans, or behind people's blankets. They opened fire and began shooting up into the air to get the people to clear the place. Screams filled the air as the gang members yelled at them to get the fuck out.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked, eyeing the scene in front of her.

"Just clearing the beach for the two of us," Cinder hummed, sliding up next to Ruby whose skin was slightly sweaty from her game and glowed in the dusk of the setting sun. Cinder placed her arms around Ruby's thin waist from behind, resting her chin on her shoulder. "We haven't had a chance to have the place to ourselves yet."

"Oh, that's a good idea!" Ruby said. "This way I can splash the waves as hard as I want and not interrupt other people."

Cinder's brows wrinkled up as the girl separated from her and ran into the water. That wasn't what Cinder's intentions were at all. This stupid beach was taking away Ruby's attentions from her! Curling her hand up in frustration, she pulled out her Scroll. She knew just who to call.

Ten minutes later Ruby, who was thigh deep in the water, chasing the waves when they receded and letting them chase her when they swelled again, became aware of the sound of several motor boats approaching. Peering out into the water she saw four jet skis coming at her straight. She narrowed her eyes, shielding them from the glow and a small hard frown came onto her face. She knew who it was. Cardin and his lackies. But what did they want and how did they know she was here?

It didn't matter, she was going to wipe them out of these waters for good.

"Ruby!" Cardin called out, raising his hand in greeting. "How are you today?"

"I was having fun until you ruined it," was her reply as she waded deeper into the water. She didn't have her blade on her but she didn't need it.

"That sucks, what a rough break," Cardin leered at her, his eyes covered up by shades and a wide grin on his face. He and his lackies were wearing life jackets but those wouldn't help them now.

"Yea, and guess who the people who ruined my day are," Ruby was now thigh deep in the water, letting the tips of her fingers trail over the surface of it, little ripples following her.

Cardin's jet ski was slowing down, the roar of it less loud and allowing the two of them to talk more easily. "Who are they?"He asked innocently although he knew. His lackies slowed down their own jet ski's as well.

"I'm looking right at them," Ruby gave a small smile before she tore into the waters, using her semblance to stir up a mini storm and whirlpool. Cinder watched this from a rocky outcrop by the shore. The sound of Cardin and his gang's screams was music to her ears. Because it meant Ruby would be pissed off enough to want her, to not turn away Cinder this time.

And she was right. When Ruby emerged from the water, drenched and spitting out a seaweed that had gotten into her mouth, her angry eyes sought out Cinder's ember gaze.

"Who was that?" Cinder asked although she knew who they were and why they were here. She would make sure to handsomely reward Cardin and his crew for their damages. If they made it back to shore. Right now they were specks in the distance, floating unconscious on the ruined wrecks of their machines.

"Cardin and his group, the Cardinals," Ruby growled out as Cinder picked her way down the rocks to land next to Ruby.

"They always come to bother us," Cinder commented noncommittally. "But their no threat."

"Just an annoyance," Ruby huffed out.

Cinder let her hands rest on the smaller girl's shoulders. "I know a fun beach game that can help you relax. It's called how many times can you make Cinder moan before the high tide rises." Cinder's voice was a seductive whisper.

Ruby instantly perked up. "I've never played that game on the beach before. How do I win? What are the rules?"

Cinder let a smile stretch her lips as she pulled Ruby towards their blanket, spreading the girl down under her. "The rules are simple. Here, let me teach them to you with my body first." And then she kissed her.

They'd only managed to get one round done before Mercury came to interrupt them. "Uh, boss," he coughed into his fist, looking away to the side in embarrassment. "There's been some bad news."

Ruby paused in her position hanging over Cinder, her bikini top nearly off and her bottom half discarded somewhere by Cinder's. She let out a sigh, pulling away from Cinder's delicious lips. "Mercury..." she threateningly began.

"I know you said never to interrupt your beach time unless I wanted to sleep with the fishes, but we need you to head back and-"

At this Ruby stood up and had already placed her garments on in one fast swoop of motion. Her hand was on Mercury's ear, tugging him downwards toward her level and to the water.

"Boss, I'm sorry. I didn't want to do it! But someone had to tell you. I'm really sorry for interrupting! I really am!" He cried out as she tugged him deeper into the waters.

"Save your apologizes for the fishes," she said coldly and then dunked his head into the water, keeping it there by force as he blubbered and tried to wiggle out of her grasp.

Cinder sat up, sighing in annoyance. Just when she had gotten to Ruby...this had happened. She hated when her plans got foiled. This made her cranky. And she really had been looking forward to having Ruby ravish her on a beach today. After all it was romantic, with the setting sunset and all.

She pulled up her bikini bottom and headed over to Ruby where the girl had pulled Mercury's face out of the water, letting him take a breath before dunking him back in again.

"Ruby, don't punish him for too long. I want in on it too," Cinder strode over with her arms crossed over her chest. "I want to bury him in the sand. See how he likes that."

"Okay, sure," Ruby relented, very rarely seeing Cinder get her own hands dirty punishing others. She liked to give the job over to subordinates, preferring to spend her time scheming or something else. Sometimes she indulged in the act herself, but only if she had a real bone to pick with the person. Ruby wondered what had the older woman so mad. She pulled Mercury's head out of the water, his sopping hair coming into his eyes. "No, not the sand! It'll get into my legs and mess them up!" he complained as he sputtered out water.

"Mercury, do I pay you to complain while you're getting punished?" Ruby asked as she dragged Mercury over to Cinder who began to tug him to a hole one of the Grimm men had dug before.

"Uh, no," Mercury said hesitantly, feeling like he had already been asked this before.

"That's right. Now get in the hole," Cinder finished and pushed the man in when he was directly in front of it. He fell in with a little thud and the two girl's began to compact sand onto him until only his head was sticking out.

"Hey, Cinder, are you mad about something?" Ruby asked as she patted some sand around Mercury's neck. "Lift it higher," she ordered him and he did, so she could put more in.

"Why do you ask?" Cinder asked as casually as she could. She wasn't too keen on having Ruby know how sexually frustrated she was.

"Because you're hurting Mercury and that's usually something I do." Ruby was silent as she waited for Cinder to answer her. When the woman simply stood up and rubbed the dry sand off of her hands, a flashbulb lit up over Ruby's head. "Oh...I think I get it. All you had to do was ask me," she reached for Cinder's hand, smiling at the other.

"I didn't want to bother your fun with the beach too much. I just thought the location would be perfect for some evening romance by the setting sun. But now the sun has set..." Cinder gazed wistfully at the darkened sky.

"My bad. I was so wrapped up in my own fun I forgot to be considerate of you," Ruby said, playing with Cinder's hand and looking her in the eye.

"Oh, thanks. That makes me feel better," Mercury sarcastically commented and both girl's yelled a 'shut up' at him.

"Geez, can't a man make a joke," he grumbled out, ruffled. He got sand kicked into his mouth, causing him to spit it out. _Apparently not_ , he thought to himself.

"It's fine. We can make time to go another day," Cinder said. "Besides we did have a bit of fun before Mercury interrupted. Perhaps I was too one track minded."

"It's...let's not dwell on this. I want our day to have a good ending. So let's head over to deal with the little situation on our hands and then end the day sweetly. How about I make it up to you by using your favorite whip."

"That sounds delectable," Cinder shivered and hand in the hand the two girls left, heading towards the parking lot to send some henchmen to pick up their beach stuff.

"Hey, wait, don't forget me guys!" Mercury called out after them but stopped when he felt something pinch his butt under the sand. "Ah, it's a crab. A crab!" he wiggled to try to shake it off but the sand was too tightly packed and he couldn't move. "Someone, help!" But the beach was vacant, only the sound of water reaching his ears. Some of the water tickled at his chin. "Hey, guys, the tide is rising...could you dig me out before the water gets in my mouth?" Mercury spat out a mouthful of salt water. The two girls had become specks on the beach already.

"Well, this is just-ouch!-great," he mumbled to himself as the crab pinched him again and he wondered once more why he worked for a gang.

 **A/N: Man this chapter was longer than the others. The only reason I wrote it was so that I could make the joke about Mercury sleeping with the fishes. Seriously. I'm a super lame person. Also, I think Mercury interrupting the boss is becoming a running gag. Don't know if I should keep it or switch it up. Don't want to become too predictable with the story.**


	13. Chapter 13

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter 12: Nora Strikes Back

 **A/N: A bit of angst in this one**

* * *

"Nora." A pause, the crunch of metal filling it.

"Nora." Another pause after the verbalization, shattering of glass filling the silence.

"Nora." A heavy sigh as the orange haired girl squared her shoulders.

"What, Ren?" Nora snapped her head back to look with annoyance at the boy who had been calling her name in the same inflection for the past two minutes.

"I don't think this is a good idea," he said when he saw he finally had her attention.

"What isn't?"

"This whole...revenge thing," Ren said, gesturing to the space around him. This stopped Nora in her motions of smashing the cash register as people ran screaming around her in the bakery shop, and out the door. She gave Ren an odd look, eyeing how he stood there next to her, his weapons hidden.

"Ren, what are you taking about?" She couldn't keep the hurt out of her voice and Ren winced at this, but he wasn't going to let her guilt trip him like she did every other time. Because their lives were at stake here.

"I've been doing some thinking...and I don't think this is a good idea. Don't you remember what Ruby said? Not to cross her. And we're on her territory right now. And we're wrecking it."

Nora's eyebrows descended. Her voice was mocking. "Are you scared Ren? Scared of a little girl?"

"That little girl put us in the hospital for two months with broken bones. She's dangerous."

"Broken bones are just a small price to pay for saving the town's bakeries from evil."

Ren shook his head, exasperated. "Nora, I'd love to help free this city from evil. But we're not strong enough. You saw how easily Ruby wiped us out and with such an odd weapon. We don't stand a chance against her. We need to retreat. To stop this plan."

"Then you can go. Because I don't need you holding me back!" Ren's eyes widened at this. Never before had they ever separated like this. Never before had they had a fight like this.

"Nora..." he started softly.

"No." Her face was set. "You've done nothing but complain about this Ruby girl to me. You're just a scared little boy and I don't need you holding me back on this. If you don't want to send a message to Ruby then fine, don't. But I will. Because I'm not scared of her."

"Nora..." Ren stretched out a hand, to touch her and see if this was the Nora he always knew because she was acting so different. Ever since Ruby had broken her bones she had seemed a little darker. Intent on getting the girl back and on bringing her monopoly of bakeries down. Nora hated when she was denied something, even if that something was bad for her health.

"Just go away Ren. I still have nine more bakeries to drop by." With that Nora turned her back on him, sledgehammer slung over her shoulder, and left Ren alone in the dark dim bakery, the lights sparking above him and reflecting on the shattered glass around him. He merely looked downwards, his shoulders slumping.

"I guess I'll wait for you back home in the hideout," he said quietly.

* * *

"Sweet Tooth Nora." Ruby's voice was hard and unamused. It caused Nora to stop in her actions of bringing her sledgehammer down on the glass case containing the cookies and other baked goods.

"Ruby Rose," Nora swiveled on her heel and slung her hammer over her shoulder. The Grimm gang leader was standing in the doorway, or what remained of the doorway, of the store. Tables and chairs lay overturned between the two of them and music ran on a loop, the radio having gotten a good smacking but not enough to stop the music.

"What brings you here," Nora asked, gesturing with her right hand to the area around her, "to my bakery?" Ruby's eyebrow twitched at the phrase _my bakery_. How brazen was Nora to declare that. Did she have a death wish? It sure looked like it!

"Nora, I already told you what would happen if you interfered with my plans again. This time I won't be so kind to you." Ruby's scythe was out and propped onto her shoulder, the blade menacing in the store lights.

Nora tsked. "I'm not someone who backs away easily, especially when it comes to things I'm passionate about. You can't take away these people's bakeries. They deserve to have their goods fair and square to them."

Ruby didn't deign to comment on that. "Where's Ren?" she asked, looking around the store covertly and not finding the Asian boy anywhere. Weren't the two an inseparable pair? What had happened? Was he waiting in hiding, only to spring out on her as some form of a trap?

"He decided he didn't want to help me. So I told him to leave," Nora righteously said.

"He had the right idea," Ruby hummed. "Because your little shenanigans have really pissed me off, especially because I so explicitly warned you to stay away from my territory."

"I'm not scared of you!" Nora hefted her sledgehammer and pointed it right at Ruby. She could sense a fight coming, and she was going to go into it swinging first.

At this Ruby's expression lightened up into a smile, or at least it tried to. Cinder had told Ruby that the combination of her swinging around her giant scythe and smiling would make anyone scared, but Ruby was honestly too upset to pull that off right now. Nora had decimated not only one but eight of her bakeries! Eight of them! They were ruined, smoldering wrecks, the conflagrations only being doused out and controlled by Cinder's powers.

"Well, you should be," Ruby settled on that response to Nora, her lips staying straight and thin with anger and her silver eyes alive with some inner flame. Then she moved forwards.

* * *

Ren was worried, to say the least. Never before had he and Nora not gone on a mission together. It was always just natural for the two of them to do something together. It made him unsettled to be away from her for so long. He couldn't stop worrying about it, the sensation of missing something important by his side annoying him. Was she okay? Had she destroyed the ten bakeries? Would she be coming back soon? He gave a heavy sigh and resumed his pacing around the small apartment flat the two of them shared. It shouldn't be taking her this long. She should be done by now. Ren reached for his weapons where he kept them strapped to his legs but stopped, his fingers curling around them but not pulling them out.

They had had an argument and Nora wouldn't want to see him now. She was probably still mad. Maybe he could make some pancakes to cheer her up. Ugh, maybe he shouldn't have said anything and just gone with her. But it was too late for that now.

He went to the kitchen and began mixing some pancake batter to get his thoughts off of his best friend. He had already fried ten pancakes by the time the doorbell rang. Wondering who it was, as Nora wouldn't have any need to ring the door as she lived here, he took the stack of pancakes with him just in the small case it was her so he could surprise her.

But it was him who was surprised and the plate of pancakes slipped out of his grip and to the floor where they flopped around him as he dropped to his knees. In a cardboard box that was leaking on the welcome mat in front of his door, was Nora's head.

Severed clean off.

His hands went up to his mouth to cover the screams that threatened to come up, but it wasn't screams that were coming up but something else. As he hurled onto the floor the contents of his stomach, the words written in a childish scrawl in red blood on the flap of the box were burned into his mind.

 _I warned you._

 **A/N: Ruby did warn them. But Nora had to not listen. Poor Ren. What will he ever do now?**


	14. Chapter 14

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

 **Chapter 14: I Think we Missed Something...**

* * *

"So this quarter we've made quite a bit of money," Cinder started the meeting, tapping together the stack of papers in her hands before fixing her glasses on her face. "According to our finances..." Cinder droned on with statistics and profit margins, the people at the table looking rather bored around her. Mercury's head was nodding up and down as he tried to prevent himself from falling asleep. Emerald was doodling on the packets that Cinder had handed out to everyone. Roman was actually sleeping, his hat on his face to cover his sleeping face, while a badly drawn version that was meant to be his 'real' face was tapped to it. Cinder could hear the snores coming from behind it, as the man leaned back in his seat, arms crossed behind his head as a makeshift pillow. Neo had taken to trying to build a house of cards and Ruby, who was seated right across from Cinder, at the head of the table, was looking under the table and laughing at something to herself.

Cinder frowned as she saw all this and clearing her throat, she spoke up. "I know this is boring, but would you at least try to look like you're paying attention?"

No one heard her, thinking she was still droning on. She cleared her throat once more, more aggressively.

"Guys!"

Emerald's pen ran off the paper, marking the table. Mercury's head snapped all the way up. Neo's house of cards fell down just as she had been about to place the last card on top and Ruby jerked out of her seat so violently that the phone she had been hiding in her lap came flying up and she had to fumble with it in midair for a bit before she caught it and hid it in her pocket, giving a little awkward laugh and checking to see if anyone saw that. The only one still not paying attention was Roman and Cinder indicated to Emerald. "Kick him under the table."

The green haired girl did as asked, the man jerking awake with a loud cry. His hat came off his face and fell with a plop on the table. "Wh-what did I miss?" He gave a confused look and gazed around bleary eyed.

Cinder sighed. "Would you all pay attention? This is imperative information that will help us run the gang more smoothly."

"That's right. Pay attention!" Ruby pointed an accusing finger at Roman who did not look pleased to be scolded on both ends.

"You're included in this Ruby," Cinder said.

"What!" the girl pointed at herself, clearly confused by this.

"You're the leader of the gang and you're not setting a good example by watching videos instead of listening during this meeting."

"Boo, finances are boring! Boring!" Ruby pouted at being caught and slammed her hands on the table top.

Cinder's eyebrow arched menacingly and Ruby sat back into her seat, shimmering down. "Let's start over this time. And I expect everyone to pay attention and take notes." Cinder gave the people at the table a long and sweeping look to make sure she had their attention. They all looked at her, albeit with varying degrees of disgruntled looks. Satisfied, she adjusted the glasses on her face.

"Good, let's start this over from the top." They all held back their groans at the idea of having to go over everything _again_.

 **Chapter 14: I Think we Missed Something...**

"So this quarter we've made quite a bit of money," Cinder started, only to have an "um" pipe up somewhere from the audience.

She ignored it. "According to our finances, this means we can afford more equipment for our gang. Better weapons, better getaway cars and better muscle." There was another "um," which Cinder ignored as well.

"It's thanks to the bakeries that we have taken over. We now have an additional form of income other than us robbing banks, stealing from charities, bankrupting rich people, and smuggling dust products from the Schnee family."

There was third "um" one that Cinder could not ignore this time. She pulled the paper from in front of her face that she had been reading and arched a brow over the frame of her black glasses. "What is it Mercury?"

The gray haired man looked flustered, afraid to interrupt Cinder but needing to do so. "Uh, I don't really want to interrupt-"

"But you're interrupting. You know what that means. When you interrupt a meeting, you get a beating!" Ruby sang at Mercury who paled.

"Ruby, let the man speak," Cinder told her girlfriend. Ruby sat back down with a disgruntled whimper. She had been bored, and looking for any excuse to leave this meeting and do something else. Cinder wasn't going to let her.

"Well, uh, when we restarted the meeting, there was a caption that said the title of this chapter and what number it was...but it was, uh, wrong," Mercury said in a low voice.

Cinder furrowed her eyes. What was Mercury talking about? He took her look as one of anger and cowered in his seat as he hastened to move on from this topic. "Never mind then. It's not important."

"That's right, not important. Not at all!" Ruby piped up from her end of the table, her voice just a bit too squeaky. That meant she was hiding something.

"Ruby...what did you do?"

"Huh! Me? Whaaaaa, what are you talking about!" Ruby awkwardly laughed, ruffling up the back of her head and giving a wide smile.

Cinder was now certain that Ruby had done something. "I'm going to check the title again."

"Uh, don't do that!" Ruby rushed to get out of her chair, tripping over her own cloak which had gotten tangled in the wheels of the chair. She landed on the floor with a huff and when she picked herself up she found that Cinder had pulled down the title of this chapter from where it had been floating over her head.

"Hmmm, something _is_ off about it. I just don't know what. What do you think it means?" Cinder asked the henchmen who all peered more closely at it, it being spread out on the table between them.

"It looks normal to me," Roman commented lackadaisically.

"It sounds a bit suspicious. It says something's missing...but what is?" Emerald voiced and Neo picked up a sign that said "Something important?" unhelpfully.

"Mercury, you said it was wrong. You were the first to notice. So what is the deal with the title?" Cinder turned to Mercury who blanched under her direct demand.

"I'm actually not sure, it just felt off," he said, wilting a little as he said this due to the glare that Cinder threw at him. _What a bumbling fool,_ she thought. Why did he work for them again?

"Ah! Don't look at it!" Ruby ran her hands over the title, scrambling the letters so that no one could figure the truth out.

"Ruby! What's going on!" Cinder was getting just a tad annoyed with her girlfriend.

"It's bad luck!"

"Bad luck?" Roman arched a brow and pulled out a cigar, Neo out of habit leaning over the table to light it.

"Bad luck to talk about it!" Ruby pumped her fists up and down to try to convince the others.

"Bad luck?" Emerald echoed, giving Cinder a look, puzzled as to why their boss was acting like this.

A light bulb appeared over Neo's head at the words bad luck and she took to counting on her fingers, clearly having a grasp on some idea. When she reached thirteen in terms of counting, she scribbled something on her sign. Ruby and Cinder were still arguing.

"Ruby don't be ridiculous. Just tell us what's going on."

"Nope. Let's just forget about it and move on!" Ruby crossed her hands in the air, trying to get Cinder to move on, but the older woman was not budging. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back into her chair. "How about you tell me? Or do I have to make you tell me?" There was a smirk to her voice at this as she imagined various sexual positions that would get Ruby to talk.

Neo finished writing on her sign and shoved it in Roman's face. The man looked it over, his eyes quickly absorbing what was written there. "Cinder, I think Neo's figured it out. This chapter is supposed to be chapter thirteen of the series, not counting the holiday special's, but it's labeled as fourteen."

"No!" Ruby made shushing motions at Roman who was confused by the panic he saw on the girl's face.

"Ruby! Why did you mislabel the chapter?" Cinder admonished the younger girl.

"It's...it's because thirteen is a bad luck number," Ruby's voice quieted down and she poked her pointer fingers against each other in bashfulness.

Cinder let out a sigh so deep that she could feel her lungs entirely deflate of air. "Ruby, really?"

Ruby stuck out her bottom lip and nodded her head slowly, looking up from under her lashes. "I didn't want to jinx the gang."

"Nothing like that will happen," Cinder reached out a hand and pulled the younger girl into her lap. "It's just a silly little tale told to scare kids. And you're not a little kid, are you?" Cinder batted her eyes innocently at Ruby, knowing that Ruby hated being compared to a little girl and so wouldn't stand for the slightest hint that she could be one. "I'm not a little girl! I'm grown!" Ruby crossed her arms over her chest.

"So then you should know that nothing will happen. I promise. Do you trust me?" Ruby nodded her head as Cinder placed a finger under her chin and made their eyes level with one another. "Good. Now fix the title."

Ruby got off Cinder's lap and dug deep into her pocket. With a show of effort she pulled out the original title. She held it above her head, and let go, the black print drifting up to the ceiling and hovering over Cinder's head. Everyone watched it.

 **Chapter Thirteen: The Unlucky One**

"There. That wasn't so hard. Now we can get this meeting back on track." Cinder straightened up her papers once more and cleared her throat to speak when the title fell down on her head, smacking her face into the table. Everyone's eyes went wide as they silently watched Cinder snap her neck back up right, the shattered letters lying around her, on the table, and in her lap, along with her broken glasses. She rubbed the top of her head where a bump was already growing.

"Cinder, are you okay? I told you it was bad luck!" Ruby rushed to hug Cinder.

"It's alright. It was just bad timing."

Then the lights went out in the room.

"Bad luck!" Ruby screeched out, shaking Cinder in her grip. Cinder not so gently pried her off of her so that she could maintain a semblance of calm.

"Oh no, are we going to be cursed now?" Mercury fretted as he pulled his legs up to his chest and took to biting on his nails.

"There must have been faulty wiring or something in the system," Cinder smoothly explained. "I'll call the technician up later." She turned to Neo. "Can you go and pull up the shades on the windows so as to let some sunlight in?"

Neo nodded her head and got up out of her chair, tripping over her own feet and falling down hard on her face. She shakily got back up to her feet, hand scrambling at the table surface to help her up, her nose dribbling blood down her chin. A sign in her hand said "ouch".

"Bad luck!" Ruby hissed. "Who else shall it strike!" She pointed crazily at each member.

As if invoked by Ruby's cry, a crack appeared in the ceiling over Emerald's head and water poured down on her. All of the people at the table just watched as Emerald was nearly drowned by the powerful and long stream of water that dropped. It went on for quite a while, the girl unable to move under it.

Just when they thought it was over, the water soaking the table and spreading towards Roman, who edged his hands back, another stream came down. And then another one. Emerald was left looking like a piece of wet seaweed and smelling like something fishy and dead from the ocean. She spat out a mouthful of water and then turned to look at Cinder.

"I..that was just bad plumbing?" Cinder shrugged.

"Bad luck! I tried to warn you all. To prevent it! But you said there was no such thing as bad luck!" Ruby pointed accusingly at Cinder.

"Ahhhh!" Mercury let out a panicked cry. "Whose going to be hit next by the bad luck? I don't want be next!"

"Stop your wailing, and grow a pair. There is no need to freak out about such trivial things," Roman growled out, flicking the embers from his cigar. Instead of going down they went up, instantly lighting the front part of his hat on fire. His eyes opened wide on this. "No! Not my hat! Anything but it!" He started running around the room in hopes to extinguish it, the breeze he made spreading the flames and fanning them around more instead. The shades on the windows he passed also caught on fire and heaving a sigh, Cinder span her wrist and the flames went out. It took Roman a moment more of screaming and running around before he realized that the fire was out.

"Oh." He took his hat off and dusted the ash on it off before he sat back down, straightening his collar as he tried to act nonchalantly once more, "Right, like I said. Stop freaking out, Mercury."

At that moment the door to the room burst open, revealing a swarm of black cats, attracted to this room by the smell coming from Emerald. They let out a mighty and terrifying screech before plunging into the room like an oil spill.

"See. I told you! Bad luck!" Ruby cried out as she clung to Cinder's chest as the cats began to crawl up the legs of the people in the room and climb up the table. "Just another coincidence!" Cinder managed past Ruby's tight hold on her, but even she had a hard time believing her own words. Mercury let out a cry as they climbed up onto his arms, sinking their claws in. Emerald jumped up on the table to avoid them and was trying to distract them with little balls made of the paper packets that she had crumpled up. Neo took to swatting some with a sign that said "This is a cat-astrophe!"

"Well, at least this beats the boring finance meeting," Roman said around his cigar before he pulled out his cane and began to use it to sweep the cats away from him.

Meanwhile, Blake, who was supposed to be tending to the many black cats that Adam kept as his pets, was surprised and displeased to find they were all suddenly missing, having chewed their way past the fence guarding them.

Sighing, for she would have to be the one to fetch them, she put down the fifteen pound bag of cat food she had lugged over her shoulder and went to find them hoping that not too much damage would be done.

What a stroke of bad luck.

 **A/N: So a kind of fourth wall break? I guess? I really wanted to do something for chapter thirteen that dealt with superstitions but this is all I could think of without deviating too far from a crime au.**


	15. Chapter 15

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

 **Chapter Fourteen: Weiss Doesn't have a Sweet Day**

* * *

Weiss had expected to be laughed at by her family when she declared that she wanted to expand the business into the sugar and flour industry's. After all, they had descended from royalty, had been royalty for a long portion of the family's lineage, so owning such companies that specialized in flour and sugar were laughable and way below a Schnee's level of interest. Yet, Weiss wanted to do it. Because she wanted to strike out on her own, separate from her father's businesses. For her father pretended to be a simple dust merchant but under that facade he was actually involved in all sorts of illicit activities with all the wrong people. Weiss' father knew how she truly felt about his involvement for she had made it abundantly clear to his face whenever she could. She didn't want to be associated with white collar crime, she didn't want to fall into the stereotype of a typical Schnee: power hungry, greedy, blood thirsty and out to get the throne back. He had tried to convert her to his side countless times but failed and finally relented, letting her go to pursue her silly dreams in a country as far away from him as she could get. Her father still had some dust shops open in Vale, as he was going for complete domination of the dust markets, but other than that he didn't express much interest in Vale and so she would be safe from his meddlesome interference there.

After laughing at her and telling her she was degrading herself by becoming involved in such industries, he let her go with only a couple thousand dollars to her name to help her with her business ventures. Weiss had picked the flour and sugar industry because she figured it would be free from corruption, and that it would be fairly easy to run, as well was as far away as possible from the dust market. She was certain she never would have to deal with her father's products at all while running her companies. But she couldn't know how wrong she was. She couldn't have foreseen what would happen. For it was not her father and his pestering presence she should be worried about, but someone else entirely.

She expected there to be troubles with procuring the businesses and getting into the rhythm of life in Vale. For there to be trouble with finances and distributions, and shipping and packing. What she hadn't expected was that she was going to be robbed by some midget in a ridiculous cloak, holding an oversized knife.

And apparently this girl was some big deal. Not that Weiss would know. She was still new to Vale, recently having moved from Atlas. The girl in the cloak had arrived in a black van and strode up to the door of Weiss's factory, flanked by a black haired woman, a gray haired man and another woman with green hair.

"Who are they?" Weiss asked as she looked out the window that overlooked the newcomers, arching a brow in confusion as the men guarding her door suddenly ran away.

"That's...that's the Grimm," the man who was her adviser had paled and dropped his clipboard before declaring he was quitting as he rushed away. The Grimm? Weiss had heard of them before, but only in passing. They weren't a threat to Atlas anymore, the army having given up on taming them, so she hadn't concerned herself with them, figuring the Grimm must have fallen out of power or something. Additionally, none of her informants had brought them up when she had declared she would go into the sugar and flour industry in Vale.

She decided she would check out these people for herself, see what they wanted. She was halfway down the stairs when the group strode into the warehouse, standing in the middle of the empty space, space that was waiting to be filled with sweet goods.

"Hello there!" the small girl cheered and waved her hand in greeting. Her entourage remained silent behind her, faces stern.

"Hello," Weiss said, with a touch of caution. She reached the last step of the stairs and hesitated, contemplating if she should come any closer. She had Mytremaster with her. She was trained to use it well, as it was an age old custom of her family line to learn the art of fighting. Feeling that she would be fine, as they didn't seem to be here for a fight, she approached them, keeping a distance of ten feet. Enough to hear them but far enough to be able to jump back in case.

"I'm Ruby Rose, leader of the Grimm gang. And these here are my members. Cinder Fall, Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai." The girl pointed to each member in succession. "You must be Weiss Schnee, of the Schnee family from Atlas," Ruby said, a small smile on the girl's face.

Again Weiss was cautious as she answered. "Yes."

"Long way from home?" Ruby asked. Weiss didn't know if the girl was testing her, or simply interested in making small talk. Weiss wasn't interested in small talk so she decided to speed things up. "Let's get right to it. I know you aren't here for idle chatter. You're the Grimm gang, I'm sure, so you've come to me for something. Is it something to do with my family? Because I'll have you know that I'm not here to make any deals for my father on his behalf. If you want dust, or weapons, or anything illegal, I'm not going to pass on the word."

This seemed to catch Ruby off guard, if her wide open eyes were any indication. She took a second to recover. "No, I'm not here for that. I'm here to talk to you about your industry."

Weiss arched a brow at this. "And what about it? Have I broken some sort of rules of conduct by acquiring it? If so, I had no such idea that I did. But I'm sure a hefty amount of cash could fix that blunder and it could all be swept under the rug."

Again Ruby was having a hard time following what Weiss was suggesting. It took her another moment to respond.

"Uh, I was kind of hoping to buy your factories from you."

Now it was Weiss's turn to be shocked. "What?" she blurted out before she realized that that could be taken as a rude response. She was talking to a mobster after all. They took offense to the weirdest things.

"You see, I'm in the possession of a lot of bakeries and I want the best ingredients for my goods, so I was hoping to buy all the sugar and flour industries in Vale. But before I could, it seemed someone had beat me to it. That someone was you."

"If you think I will hand it over to you, you are sorely mistaken. I didn't leave Atlas to make my own money and business only for it to be taken from me just weeks after I acquire it." Weiss's voice was rough. She wasn't going to give up what she had just gained. She could imagine her father's and sister's amusement at Weiss's failure, getting bought out by someone else so quickly. Weiss had left home so she could prove to them that her dreams were valid, that she didn't need her family legacy, and that she was a competent woman, damn it!

"I was going to buy it out," Ruby pouted. "And give you a lot of money for it."

Weiss wasn't swayed. "The answer is no."

Ruby let out a sigh, bending over in half before straightening out. "Man, and here I was hoping we could get along. Be friend's."

"I don't make friend's," Weiss interjected coldly, hoping this message would get it through Ruby's head that she wasn't in business with her.

"Whelp, I guess this means we gotta take you out."

At Ruby's words, Weiss's hand flew to the hilt of her blade, causing a chain reaction. Cinder's hands flared up in fire, Mercury got into a fighting stance and Emerald reached into her pockets. Only Ruby stood at ease.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt you now. I'll come by later. I'd advise you to hire some goons to work for you because I'll be bringing my gang over and I hate when it's not a fair fight."

Weiss narrowed her eyes. Why was this girl trying to offer her a fair fight? How odd. Certainly not what one would expect from a gang leader.

"All your businesses will be mine," Ruby said ominously before she clicked her tongue. Immediately her people relaxed. "Let's go back home. We need to plan how to take over all these factories in a most successful manner." They made their way to the door. "I had really hoped we could have been friends," Ruby called over her shoulder as she left.

Only when she was gone did Weiss relax her grip on her weapon. Then turning on her heel, she went upstairs, ready to dial the number for henchmen for hire.

 **A/N: So this is Weiss's role in the story, as suggested to me by STRQ. All that is left for me to cover is Blake from team RWBY. As for Jaune and Pyhrra, I'm still thinking about them, but I think I have the perfect role for the duo.**


	16. Chapter 16

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

 **Chapter 15: How to Save Ruby**

* * *

"Maybe we should just kiss to ease the tension between the two of us?" Sun poised the question with one of his handsome smiles. He was leaning casually against the hospital wall, arms crossed over her muscular chest which was on casual display given his open shirt.

"Wha?" Yang asked distractedly. She was busy peering at the white wall in front of her.

"I said we should kiss to ease this tension." Sun watched as Yang dragged her gaze up to his face. Her eyes usually alive with mirth and mischievousness were dead, with bags under them.

"What tension?" she asked, her tone monotone.

Sun let out a sigh, stemming his hands on his hips. "It was a joke to help lighten you up. You're...so tense and just not acting like you and I'm worried."

"Well sorry for not being myself. But you're not the one missing a fucking limb!" Yang suddenly snarled out and Sun realized that that had been the wrong thing to say.

"I don't...I mean, let's not talk about it," Sun put up his hands to dissuade the topic from continuing.

"No. I need to do something about this," Yang said, her left hand absently trailing up to where the stump of her right arm was bandaged.

"About the...arm?" Sun trailed off not sure if he should be bringing it up but wanting to be certain what it was Yang was referring to.

"No. That's gone. But it can be fixed. Dad got me a mechanical arm, military grade. But...it's Ruby." Yang swallowed hard at this and looked away, back at the wall in front of her.

"What about her? Is it the fact that she didn't visit you? I know that she'd be the first one usually...in fact, yeah where is she? Why isn't she like sitting 24/7 by your bed?" Sun gave a wide look around the room.

"That's the thing, Sun. Ruby is...gone."

"Gone?" Sun echoed, scratching his blonde spiky hair in confusion. Was she dead? The girl had run away a year ago. There was no telling what had happened with her.

"She's caught up in some bad business, and it's up to me to stop her, because she won't see the error of her ways." Yang griped the bed sheets hard with her good hand. Her grip was white knuckled. Her face was contorted with emotional pain. Sun couldn't stand to see Yang like this. He missed her sunny disposition. She'd usually come out of scraps and bad situations laughing it off like it was nothing. But not this time. And he was really worried for her. What had happened to make her like this? He wanted more than anything to help her. To make her smile again.

"I want to help."

His admission caught her off guard. She turned incredulous eyes to him. "Don't. I don't need it."

"Yes, you do," he countered, approaching her. "This is tearing you up. And I can't stand for it. I won't see you in pain like this anymore. So whatever it is that has hurt you...the reason Ruby is gone...I want to be able to solve it." He stopped at her bed, staring at her with pleading eyes.

She couldn't meet them. "No."

"Yang, don't be like this. You know you need help. Whatever it is that Ruby has become involved in, it caused your arm to get cut off. And I want vengeance against the one who hurt you like this. I want to help you get back at them. And I want to save Ruby."

There was a bitter laugh from Yang at this as her hand came up to her stump. "If you want vengeance against the perpetrator who did this to me, and want to save my sister, then you can't come along. Because she was the one who did this." The last sentence was said with bitterness, so much that Sun had never expected the girl to be able to speak like this. He had only ever heard her voice, light, loud and booming as she laughed long and hard at some joke or another. Or heard it in the throes of anger, terrifying and bloodcurdling. But not like this.

"Ruby...did this?" Sun's mind had a tough time wrapping around the concept. "How?" He knew the girl had anger issues but never had he thought she would raise a blade against her sister. The two girls loved each other dearly. Their sisterly bonds were what every pair of sisters wished it was. So what had gone wrong? Had Ruby been pressured into doing it?

Yang shook her head. "It's none of your business."

Sun tightened his lips. Yang's refusal to let him help was pissing him off. He rounded the bed so that he would be directly in her line of sight. She just looked through him. Her hand was scratching intensely at her bandages. He bent forwards a little so that he could be level with her gaze. "Yang Xiao Long, I'm your best friend. And have been for a good portion of the three years we've attended Beacon together. We've faced certain death together, fought off countless hordes of mobsters, played way too many pranks to count on our fellow teammates and had our share of drunken nights out on town. We've gone through way too much to simply part ways here. I'm going to help you with this issue. I'm not leaving you be to do it on your own and there is nothing you can say or do to dissuade me from my decision." Sun pointed his finger at her in accentuation of his words.

Yang seemed to wilt under his intense gaze and heartfelt words. "I...I feel so lost, Sun. I don't know what to do. It's...it's Ruby. She's my sister. I love her and I'm worried for her. What can I even do to save her? She doesn't want to come home. She doesn't see anything wrong with what she's doing." Yang's voice wavered. She sounded like she would cry but Sun knew better than that. Yang never cried in front of others. "Am I a bad sister? Is this all my fault? Where did I go wrong?" Her hand clutched her stump painfully and Sun could see blood seeping through the bandage. It was like the bloody version of Yang crying, because she couldn't do it with her eyes as long as he was around. Sun gently untangled her hand from it's vice like grip and held it between his two hands.

"Yang, you're the best older sister anyone could ask for. You've taken care of Ruby since forever. And when she went missing, who was the first to look for her? You. It was you. You didn't sleep, didn't eat for a whole week as you scourged the city for her. And you put up posters for her, you alerted the police. No one cares more for her than you do Yang. So if anything bad happened to her, it's not your fault. She's not a little girl anymore. You can't protect her from her own decisions. All you can do is support her and console her when they go bad." Sun stroked his thumb over her knuckles.

Yang was silent for a long while after this, her eyes having fallen down to the sheets pooled around her legs. Her shoulders shook and Sun knew she was trying hard to hold back her tears. He gave her the time she needed, just holding her warm hand in his.

When she recovered, her eyes were burning with determination. "Alright, Sun. We've got to get my sister back. I know she didn't mean to hurt me, she just needs help getting back onto the path she strayed off of. I know she won't come willingly so we'll need to come up with some plan in order to get her back."

Sun was glad to see her familiar flare of energy back. He hated a mopey Yang. "Any ideas?"

Yang shook her head. "Not yet. Help me brainstorm some. I want to get Ruby back as soon as possible. Get me that pad of paper from there and a pen so I can write down some ideas."

"Got it. And Yang," Sun turned on his heel to look at her as he backed up to get the pad and paper from the table top. He needed to see if her renewal of spirit was genuine or just a mask to cover up her darker emotions. "If you need help, just ask for a _hand_."

Yang snorted at this. "I would say I'm _all-right_ , but I'm actually just left," she cracked back, shaking her left hand, her only good one, and he let out a breath of relief, his grin spreading on his mouth. Yang seemed to have recovered from the brief depression she had been in.

He pulled up a chair to sit by her bed and the two of them got to making plans for their operation dubbed Rescuing Ruby Rose, or RRR for short. It wasn't easy but with two brains the plan making went by faster. Yang filled Sun in on what she knew about the situation which wasn't much.

"I know someone who could help us out with this," Sun had assured her. "They can spy on Ruby's gang if she truly is in one. And leader of it." Sun let out a low appreciative whistle. "How the hell did that happen?"

"I don't know," Yang said thoughtfully before her expression changed and she was waggling her brows. "I'm _stumped_." She raised her wounded right arm and she and Sun laughed together at this.

"But not for long," Sun said, calming down, and he patted her shoulder. The sun had gone down and it was getting dark. He had to go back to the dorms so he could do his work. "We'll get Ruby back."

Yang sobered at this. "Yea." Was all she said and all that needed to be said. In that one word lay all of Yang's insecurities about the issue and Sun didn't want to press her by asking if she was really okay. That would only anger her and make her draw back further into her shell. He was just going to pretend everything was alright.

"Text me if you need anything," he said as he left. He hated to go, especially when she needed all the support in this big transition but he couldn't stay over night. He only hoped she wouldn't do anything stupid. He knew she had a penchant for doing that. He was the smarter one of the two. Although he could be as stupid and rash headed if not more than her in certain situations. Their relationships worked like a series of checks and balances. Sometimes he'd be the dumb one and sometimes she'd be the dumb one and they'd look out for each other. But it worked, and they had fun which was the most important part.

"Okay." Her smile only lasted until he left. Then she slumped down onto her bed, lifting her stump up so she could look at it. "Stumped...huh," she muttered to herself, her voice full of tears that she could now freely shed. "Why, Ruby? Why?" she just wanted to know to ease this sting of betrayal and confusion she felt.

But she wouldn't know until she saved her sister, no matter what it took.

 _No matter what it takes,_ she vowed.

 **A/N: I kind of imagine Yang and Sun like Beavis and Butthead. Except their not both dumb at the same time but do so on and off. And they really care about each other. I kind of want to write a chapter about them before this incident to show them having a good time, but we'll see how it goes.**


	17. Chapter 17

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

 **Chapter 16: Pyrrha Nikos, Reporting for Duty**

* * *

Pyrrha Nikos, three time champion of the Vytal Tournament and Valedictorian of Beacon Academy, which she was a recent graduate of, stood outside the police station holding her carton of personal belongings which she would use to decorate her desk with. She was wearing her police uniform with it's snappy black hat, blue shirt and black pressed pants, black shoes polished to the point of reflecting anything. She was excited, to say the least, to be here. It had been her dream to enter the police force to fight crime on the streets. It was after all why she had gone to Beacon academy, to fight villains that tormented the city. People had been confused by her choice at first. Why would someone as talented and popular as her want to become a common cop when she could join an elite fighting force?

But the truth was she simply wanted to be out of the limelight. She didn't like the abhorrent attention on her. She felt like she couldn't do anything without being judged harshly for it. That she always had to act a certain way. And she certainly did not want to join an elite hunting force which would have everything publicized, which would have all their actions criticized and whose finances came from corporations that told them what fights to fight and what clothes to wear. Pyrrha didn't want to be a sponsored hero. She wanted to be authentic and what better place than the police force where most of the work done by Vale's force got under appreciated.

With a warm smile on her face she strode right into the building, pushing the heavy and worn oak doors open with her shoulders. The place was a bit rundown but nothing could wipe away the girl's excitement. Not even the sour face the receptionist made when Pyrrha asked her where her desk was. Not even the small size of her cubicle, desk, and chair that would be her work station for the foreseeable future. Not even the klutzy blonde haired boy who spilled coffee all over her shirt front. Nope. Nothing could take away her enthusiasm for this job.

She was going to be able to change lives. She was certain of it.

Smiling at her desk she began to type information on records into the computer.

* * *

Frowning she sat at her desk, looking at the information on her computer screen.

Something fishy was going on with this station. She was certain of it.

She had been here for just three months but already something heavy rested on her stomach and her mouth tasted sour. Pyrrha had been doing her job. She had been out on the streets, patrolling them and chasing after perps before they could get a chance to rob stores. But that was the issue. The perps that she captured wouldn't stay behind bars. More than once Pyrrha had watched Roman, a notorious swindler and dust mule, and Neo, a silent interrogator, been let out to walk back onto the streets. This had confused her at first, her thinking she had gotten something wrong in arresting them. But running through their files did confirm that they were indeed criminals. So then why were they being let free?

She had confronted the chief of police on this but the man had waved away her concerns telling her that since she was new here she didn't know what she was doing. But she did know. She wasn't some dumb jock. She had been top of her class for a reason!

And the other cops had been the same! Whenever she had raised this sentiment with them, wondering if the criminals they caught ever walked away, they had laughed at her, saying that she shouldn't mess with the Grimm gang. This infuriated her. Corrupt cops! And of all times, when the city was in the grips of a nasty power hungry and bloodthirsty gang. She tried to change their mindset on corruption; how they were supposed to protect the citizens and not let harm come to them. But they had yet again laughed at her and said that she didn't know how the real world worked, that she should stop living in an utopia, because those didn't exist. She had been offended by this. She wasn't naive! She had seen bloodshed, had brought pain to others. She knew the horrors of life in and out. Still they didn't take her words seriously, waving her off and telling her that until she had crossed the Grimm gang leader, that she didn't really know pain. That pain only took on meaning when it was wrought upon others by her hands.

Pyrrha had then said that she was going to reach the top of the Grimm gang. That she was going to work on the side to capture the leader. They called her a fool for it but didn't do anything to stop her. Pyrrha took to researching like mad anything she could about the gang. She combed through all the police forces records and found herself appalled and sickened by the extensive list of the Grimm gang's damages. She saw that Roman, Neo, Emerald, and Mercury were in the top of the gang, having served the once leader Cinder. But the woman was no longer leader, serving another. And Pyrrha had to wonder who the person was. Not much was known about them yet, except they carried a scythe and left their mark, a red rose, on their work.

Pyrrha was going to have to interrogate some of the top brass at the Grimm gang. And she was going to start with Roman and Neo. She just had to catch them. But they were slippery and good fighters. Still, she was talented and determined.

"Working late again?" the blonde haired boy, the one who had spilled coffee on her shirt the first day of her work, asked as he leaned over his cubicle wall to gaze at her. It was past operating hours and Pyrrha was sitting at the computer, her hair tied up into a messy bun and an ash tray next to her, filled with about twenty butts. She had recently taken to smoking. Something which she knew was bad but which she couldn't help. The injustice was making her burn up inside so she had to burn something else or else she would combust herself.

"Yea, Mr. Arc," she responded to him without taking her eyes off of the screen as she typed stuff in. "Why are you here late again?"

"I uh, mucked up some documents. So I gotta redo them. All of them," he admitted uncomfortably. Pyrrha would have apologized for making him feel unsettled with her question, but she was too worn out to care. Today she had been pulled off to the side and reprimanded harshly after she had tried to go bust a dust robbery conducted by the Grimm. The criminals had been let go and she couldn't do anything about it. "But it's fine. I'm used to it."

Pyrrha merely grunted in the affirmative. Jaune was by far one of the worst cops she had come across in a while. She couldn't believe he had been a student of Beacon. How had he made it through with his abysmal skill set? He didn't even have a proper semblance and his field work reports were the worst. Sloppily written and lacking details. Yet, he was a nice person. Earnest, and he kind of reminded her of a puppy that had been kicked one time too many.

There was silence, only filled by her quick typing and the small slurps of his coffee. He was still looking down at her.

"Still working on the same lead?" He asked. He knew what it was she was working on. Everyone at the station did, although they used it as fodder for jokes. He was the only one who seemed genuinely interested in it. Sighing, for it seemed the boy wanted to talk rather work, Pyrrha decided to lean back from the computer and take a break. It wouldn't hurt and she was being rather rude by not engaging in conversation with him. She wouldn't have done this months ago but she now carried no small amount of dislike for cops at this station. And while Jaune never openly jeered at her, his incompetence both on the field and off irritated her. The police force would never do any good with people like him on it.

"Yes. And I think I'm getting closer." She pulled out the cigarette from between her lips and loosened the tie around her neck more. It felt strangling. "If the others aren't going to do anything about the Grimm gang then I will."

"Why didn't you join the elite warriors then? You're amazing. I mean, I've seen you on TV. You got it all. The power, the personality, the mannerisms, the golden heart and the looks," he blushed a little on this, " to be a hero. So why didn't you go there. Why did you choose to come here? The police are corrupt. You won't achieve anything with them. Me, I suck plain and simple. I had no other place to go to after I completed schooling, which was a miracle in itself. But your potential is being wasted here." Pyrrha was a bit taken aback by his words. She never knew he felt this way about her. The two of them barely exchanged many words, the boy too shy or stumbling over his words or feet too often to talk to her. But today his words were clear, his sentences honest.

"Because I didn't know," was her simple reply. "I just wanted to be...normal. I wanted to be close to people and not some sort of icon. The hero squads aren't all that they seem to be. They have their negatives." She sucked on her cigarette and let out a long stream of smoke. "That's why I came here. But it didn't pan out like I thought it would. But I'm not going to give up. I came to help people and I will. If I have to I will use my popularity to raise awareness of the corruption in the force. But first I need good hard proof." She tapped on her computer screen.

Jaune swirled his cup, looking down into the liquid in there. "You know...I've admired you for the longest time. You were a celebrity even before you were of age to join Beacon, but you were so good at tournaments. I wanted to be like you. You helped me get through school. You kept me going with the idea that I could be better. And while I suck, I could have been worse. So...I was thinking that this time I could help you." His voice was soft, almost tapering off at the end.

"What?" Pyrrha who had been reclining in the chair, snapped up right at those words. Had she hear right?

"I want to stop the corruption in this force. But I've never been smart enough or strong enough to do it. But I've wanted to do it for the longest time. And now that you're here, you've inspired me to want to try to do something. I want to offer you my support. Let me be the light this time, the light that helps you through this trying time." He blushed as he said this. "Not that I'm like anything amazing to look up to, like you or stuff, but, uh, well, I just want to help," he finished sheepishly. "With you around, the force might actually get better."

Pyrrha regarded the boy thoughtfully for a while and her gaze must have been intimidating because he coughed and looked away, going to sit back down at his computer. "Never mind what I said, I just thought..."

"Mr. Arc," Pyrrha stood up from her seat, this time her being the one to lean over his cubicle wall. "I appreciate the offer. Having your support would mean a lot to me." Hearing those words-that someone else noticed the corruption and wanted to do something about it- lifted her mood. Even though it was Jaune Arc, the definition of a bumbling fool, it was still something. Jaune's face blossomed into joy at this.

"But, we need to work on your fighting skills, because we will be out there fighting."

"Right," Jaune's face fell a little as he took on a more serious form and nodded his head.

"And we'll need to work on your investigating skills and your writing skills. Your reports are plain horrid," Pyrrha continued on and Jaune squirmed in discomfort.

She would have pointed out more of his flaws but relented, figuring she didn't want to lose his support so quickly. "We need to work on it. I'll train you. Meet me in the police gym at six in the morning? We can start with your fighting technique first."

Jaune nodded his head in affirmation. "Sounds like a good idea. Together we can beat this corruption."

"I sure hope so, Mr. Arc," Pyrrha muttered, letting out a plume of smoke from her lips.

"Just Jaune. Call me Jaune," the blonde offered, blushing slightly.

"Alright, Jaune. I'll see you early tomorrow. And don't be late."

It was time to take this station back from the Grimm.

 **A/N: I know Pyrrha might be a bit ooc, but that's cause she's disgruntled. She's been working her ass off only for all her work to be dismissed by corrupt cops. That'd make anyone grumpy, especially if she's working her own case on the side. But anyways, I'm excited to write some more buddy cop chapters between Jaune and Pyrrha. We'll see if this team up is any match for our dastardly duo of Cinder and Ruby. I place my bets on the latter.**


	18. Chapter 18

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter 17: Jaune's Buddy Cop Idea

* * *

"I still think Pyrrhic Pyrrha is a good name for you," Jaune argued around his glazed doughnut. Crumbs fell from his mouth as he spoke. He was seated in the passenger seat of the car that they were using for their stakeout. It was currently parked across the street from a club that the redhead cop had seen Neo go into. They had been waiting an hour for her to leave but she still hadn't exited the premises. "We can use it over the walkie talkies like they do in movies, so they won't understand our code."

"I don't think so," she stated simply for the third time, slowing getting annoyed with him. He had been blabbering non stop all the way on this ride and now while they waited. They were supposed to be quiet and attentive here but the boy simply paid more regard to his doughnut and to this stupid nickname conversation then to the club.

"And what's wrong with it? It's like from the Greek thing, Pyrrhic victory, meaning a good victory, since you're like a three time winner of the Vytal tournaments and stuff." Jaune shoved another bite of the pastry into his mouth, mumbling around it.

"Jaune, Pyrrhic victory doesn't mean that. It means a victory where the victor's loses are as great as the defeated party's."

"Oh," Jaune said quietly and he stopped talking for a good minute or two which the redhead was grateful for. It didn't last long, as the man had been thinking up more names in the time. "What about Nike? Like Pyrrha Nike? Since Nike is the goddess of victory and stuff."

She couldn't believe he was still doing the victory spiel. She flicked the ash from off her cigarette tip into the ash tray on the dashboard. "But if we're coming up with nicknames, then why use my real name in it? And besides, thanks for the flattery, but I haven't exactly been feeling victorious given the police forces efforts to thwart my crime fighting."

"Hmmmm, then what about Pretty?" Jaune suggested, scrunching up his nose in exertion of the extent of his mental skills.

With exasperation Pyrrha turned away from the driver's window where she had been staring at the club entrance. "Really?"

"But it's true!" Jaune stammered to explain before he realized what he was talking about and flushed a color close to that of the jelly center of his doughnut. "Sorry, I, that was awkward."

Pyrrha merely rolled her eyes at him and turned to the window. "How about you come up with the names. I'm not good at them." He suggested.

Figuring it would be better to just go with Jaune's silly demand just to get it over with, she quickly came up with some nicknames. "I could be Pumpkin and you could be Knight."

"Huh?" Pyrrha didn't have to turn around to know that he was doing that stupid confused face, the one where his brows went up and his mouth went comically slack. "Pumpkin for me since of my hair color, and because I was the spokesperson for Pumpkin Pete's for a long time. And then since your name is similar to a woman who cross-dressed as a man and saved her village, you're a knight, which is what she went in guise as. And no one should guess who we are from those names, since only we'll have the background info on why we're called this."

Jaune was silent a moment before, "Oh wow, that's very well thought out. The names have meanings and their just perfect." Jaune was gushing and Pyrrha couldn't help but cringe a little. Now that she and Jaune were working closely together she could see how much the boy truly admired her. He had just been too shy and afraid to do it before. He had confessed to her that seeing her disparaged by her coworkers made him realize she wasn't as scary as he first thought, that she was just human like the others.

So far they had been working together for a week. In that week Pyrrha had trained Jaune in his combat. Each morning from six to eight they were at the gym, her beating his ass while he pathetically tried to prevent said ass whopping. His form was horrid and his reflexes as well. But with her help she noticed he was slowly inching forward in improvement, although it wouldn't hurt to continue working on this for months. She was going to shape him up into a proper partner because that's what he wanted to be. He liked to pretend they were a buddy cop duo from those cheesy cop movies he watched. Pyrrha put up with only because it was impossible to stop him. It made him want to eat doughnuts and do stakeouts with her. To have silly nicknames, to have a sort of funny and witty banter with her as they fought crime. But he failed horribly to do all those things.

The redhead was grateful that she did have his support, no matter how much she internally bemoaned it, because while he was a hindrance more than a help in several fields (she had to dedicate time to train him to do things which took out free time from her schedule) he was really good at moral support. He knew how to cheer her up when she felt down and kept her well hydrated and fed whenever he could, telling her that it was important to be well fueled on missions. And he was a ridiculously good cook, which didn't make any sense to Pyrrha. She would think that being in a place with so many dangerous things like fire and knives would be a recipe for disaster but it was actually a recipe for really good food.

When Pyrrha had questioned this, after the third time she had come over to Jaune's place so they could work late on some files for the side missions, he had explained that he had many sisters and it was his job as the oldest sibling to feed them. So he perfected the craft over the years. She had been impressed by his wide repertoire of dishes and actually looked forward to the nights they would spend working at his place because of the food he made. He had even begun to show her how to make a few of the dishes which she greatly appreciated since she'd never really had to make her own food before, everything had been provided to her due to her sponsorship when she was younger.

"There!" Pyrrha exclaimed, coming out from her thoughts as she saw the dual hair colored girl exiting the club. "Let's follow her."

She watched as the girl entered a black van and took off. Pyrrha pulled the car out of parking, Jaune practically vibrating in energy next to her. "This is it! The chase! The scene in the movies where we have to race like maniacs through the streets, avoiding obstacles and outsmarting the enemy before cutting them off!"

"Let's hope not," Pyrrha grumbled out, keeping a safe distance from the van.

* * *

"Man, that chase was boring," Jaune pouted as him and Pyrrha were crouched down by a pair of trash cans.

"What did you expect? Those things only happen in movies," Pyrrha pointed out, making a silencing motion to shush Jaune, "Now be quiet, their close by." She was referring to Neo, who had exited the car and entered an alleyway no doubt to sell the drugs she had picked up at the club. The two cops had exited the car to follow her and were huddled not too far from her. They had been listening in on the deal, but admittedly with Neo, there wasn't much conversation to be gleamed. Now she was done and heading their way.

"Is it just me or is something moving in this trash?" Jaune asked with a hint of unease in his voice. Pyrrha ignored it. "Stay here, I'll take care of this," Pyrrha said and timing her entrance just right, she rose up from behind her hiding spot and held out her police badge just as Neo was coming down the alley.

"Stop, Vale Law Enforcement!" she cried out, stopping the girl in her tracks. Neo arched a brow at her, surprised at her sudden appearance. "You have the right to-"

There was a loud crash behind her followed by a scream and curse. "Ah shit! Help, help!" Both girls turned to see that Jaune had jumped out from the hiding spot and there was a giant, fat, rat on his leg, crawling up his pants. He was shaking it wildly, trying to get it off, hopping around on his other leg.

"Jaune, I told you to stay put!" Pyrrha scolded.

"But there was a giant rat and now it's on me!" Jaune's voice was barely coherent, mostly made of screams and such.

Sighing, Pyrrha used her semblance to pick up a trash can lid and use it to smack the rat off. But the rat was smarter than it looked. Every time the lid came closer to hitting it, it moved so that the metal clanged painfully on Jaune's flesh instead. "Ah! That hurt!" he cried out.

"Sorry," Pyrrha grimaced. "Just hold still will you. Then I could get it right," she squinted as she tried to aim more on target but the rat was now scrambling up over Jaune's shirt and his arm and then his neck and suddenly it was on his face. This made Jaune pause completely as he was paralyzed by fear. "Get...it...off," he pleaded in a tiny voice.

"Alright, just don't breathe," Pyrrha warned.

"Trust me, I'm not," the blonde assured. The metal lid hung in the air in front of the rat. Pyrrha held her arms out steady, willing her semblance to respond to the most minute of her movements, hoping this time it would be accurate.

The rat was tittering on Jaune's face, it's fat tail lashing around. Pyrrha took this moment to strike and the rat jumped off, scampering somewhere into the trash bags once more while the lid hit Jaune square in the face with a tremendous ringing noise.

"Jaune!" Pyrrha let her hands come up to her face in horror.

"I'm good!" the blonde haired boy gave her a thumbs up, his voice a bit muffled by the lid, before he fell over backwards.

"That's just great," Pyrrha sighed, placing her hands on her hips and shaking her head. What was she going to do about him now? Should she drag his body back to the car? Then she realized-Neo! She turned around but the girl was already gone. All that was left in her place was a sign that said "haha", laughing at her and Jaune's antics. The girl had silently disappeared and Pyrrha had no idea where to. "Well, that's even better!" she threw her hands up in the air.


	19. Chapter 19

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter 18: A Not so Pyrrhic Victory?

* * *

In a darkly lit room sat two people, staring down each other from across the steel gray table. One was a blonde haired boy with baby blue eyes, a struggling cop known as Jaune. The other was a girl with pink and brown hair, a hardened criminal known as Neo.

After two months of scouting and tracking and staking out, Pyrrha and Jaune had managed to catch the short girl in an illegal activity and now she was sitting in the interrogation room of the police station where Jaune and Pyrrha were going to interrogate her for answers on the gang's functioning as well as finally incriminate her for all her wrong doings.

All the hours of arduous work was finally going to pay off. Not that Jaune minded the tough work as long as he got to work with Pyrrha. The girl was a true inspiration and she had helped him improve by giant leaps and bounds in his combat skills. While he still had a lot to be left desired, especially when it came to being quiet and sneaky, he was getting better.

Maybe even good enough to earn the title of being Pyrrha's partner in crime busting fun.

Right now the girl had stepped out in order to get some coffee for the him and her, as the both of them had not slept for three days straight in order to follow their lead. And their lead had lead directly to seeing Neo captured right in front of them. Right now the girl was sitting calmly at the table, as if this wasn't anything out of the ordinary for her. And maybe it wasn't. Given her long record of villainy, she had done a bunch of gang bangs, dust operations, not to mention some serious torturing and interrogating of anyone who bothered the gang. She was just a bit intimidating and it wasn't in a way most people were. While people who were tough and scary were so because of their leering and big presence in public spaces, she accomplished what they did but with silence, and with a lack of presence. She looked so sweet it was disarming. And her silence was oppressive, making a person who was in her vicinity feel so unnerved by it that they often started babbling pitifully in order to prevent the consuming quiet from getting to them. This was often how she managed to get answers from people. Not necessarily through pain, although she could, but simply by siting their unassumingly and staring at the other person.

This tactic was working very well on Jaune right now, the poor boy already sweating bullets as he squirmed in his seat. "I'm not scared of you," he mumbled to her. "You don't scare me. None at all. It's you who should be scared of me. Yea, cuz I'm the cop here and you're going to go to jail."

Neo arched a brow.

Jaune paled but continued stammering on, trying to scare the other but failing at it. "We have loads of evidence against you. We know exactly what you've been up to. We've been trailing you for months. Pyrrha's smart that way. She's the brains of the operation. And I'm the brawn. Well, actually she's the brawn too. I'm just...the buddy, yea, the buddy. I'm the one who gives her support. Because the two of us are working together to take down you and your fellow gang members."

Neo arched her other brow, both up high on her face now.

Jaune slouched down in his chair in fright. "I don't care. I'm not...not scared of you. Like I said." He looked like he was going to pass out from fright.

This time Neo smiled and Jaune let out a bloodcurdling scream.

As Pyrrha approached the interrogation room with the two cups of coffee in her hands she could make out the sound of muffled sobbing. Furrowing her brows in confusion, she shouldered the door open and saw that Jaune was face down on the table, pounding it with his fist. "And that's all our plans for what we're going to do in our attempts to stop the Grimm gang. Please don't hurt me any more. I don't know anymore."

Neo was sitting in the chair, arms crossed over her chest as she listened to him basically spill everything that he and Pyrrha had planned to do against the gang.

"Jaune, what's going on here?" the redhead asked, closing the door behind her and setting the cups down on the table, trying not to get angry or to panic based on an assumption she made without hearing the full story. There was always a story when it came to Jaune. Always a reason why he messed up.

"She...she wouldn't stop it. She was just so scary," he picked up his head, tears streaming down his face.

Pyrrha gave a long sigh. She supposed she should have known better than to leave Jaune with one of the city's most notorious interrogators, alone. "Jaune, did you just get interrogated by the person you were supposed to be interrogating?"

He nodded his head tearfully yes.

She gave another long sigh, one full of bone wrenching exhaustion.

It looked like it would all be up to her again.

* * *

Interrogating Neo was hard, and so Pyrrha had to leave her locked up in a jail cell while she came up with an alternative way to get her to spill. She had kept Jaune out of the sessions as the mere sight of the girl's raised brow was enough to send the boy into hysterics and made him blubber about something or another that he felt guilty about.

Right now Pyrrha was in the station. It was past working hours and she was at her desk, scribbling away on a pad of paper and trying to come up with some ideas as to how to crack Neo open. She had sent Jaune home early, a bit irked at him for spilling all their plans to Neo. It was certain that if Neo escaped, she could tell the Grimm gang about their plans and it would all be ruined. Thus Pyrrha was even more motivated in order to get Neo incarcerated.

The clock on the wall ticked as the hands got closer and closer to 12 am. Pyrrha ran a hand over her tired eyes and pulled out the cigarette from between her teeth to tap the ash off the end before she let out a plume of smoke from her lips. Maybe she could go for a cup of coffee? Her eyes were blurring on the paper and her head was nodding off.

She got up and made her way to the kitchen which was in the back of the station. She flicked on lights on her way over, the place dimly lit. In the kitchen, a tacky sea green tiled place with a low roof and dirty plates in the sink, she grabbed the coffee pot and poured herself a cup. Taking a sip she grimaced as she realized it was cold. She should warm it up but she didn't feel like doing it. "Those damn lazy cops can't even be bothered to keep the coffee warm."

"I can heat it up for you." Pyrrha turned on her heel on those words and nearly dropped her cup.

Standing silently in the doorway was a woman with long black hair over one side of her shoulders, a red dress snug on her curvy figure. How she had gotten in without Pyrrha's notice or without alerting the security systems was concerning. Did she have the key to the station or something?

"Shit," Pyrrha cursed as she fumbled for her side only to realize her weapon wasn't there. She had unholstered it from her belt.

"Relax, I'm not here to hurt you miss Nikos. I'm merely here to pick up something of mine that has been taken away." The woman's voice was smooth and her expression smug. Pyrrha knew who this woman was. She had been the former leader of the Grimm: Cinder Fall.

Was the woman really here for a nonmalignant reason? Pyrrha wasn't certain but she wouldn't strike until it was absolutely necessary. She knew how powerful Cinder was. Pyrrha could be burned to a crisp before she even blinked. She kept the knife on the counter within her range of vision. With her semblance she could use it to distract Cinder and then jump out the window at her back. It wasn't a large window, but she could make it. The fall was merely two stories, something she could take with all her training.

But she shouldn't have worried. Cinder had no intentions of harming Pyrrha, although she did come to deliver a warning. "I also have come to inform you of something of utmost importance. You see, this police station," at this Cinder swiped a finger down the counter, looked at the dust that she had lifted off and rubbed her fingers together to get the dirt off before continuing, "Is completely under the Grimm's control. The police look the other way to our activities and we in exchange let them keep their lives and even give them a little bonus to their paychecks so that they can go and hunt down other criminals for us, help us wipe away the competition. We've never had violations in our deal until you came along. We don't appreciate these efforts to hunt us down miss Nikos. Thus I am giving you this warning kindly, because I know you are new and naive to the way the world works, having lived in your ivory tower for far too long. Stay away from us, don't try to capture us, don't try to stop us, and most importantly, don't try to jail us."

Cinder and Pyrrha remained in a heated eye lock for a while. Pyrrha was angry. How dare this woman stride in here and think she could tell Pyrrha what to do. The redheads grip on her mug tightened and she was about to open her mouth to say something when Cinder raised a hand to stop her.

"I know what you are about to say and frankly I don't want to hear it. Think over what I have said over night rather than come to a rash decision right now. The Grimm gang's offer is generous. Stay away from us and you get to keep your life. If not, then this is your first and last warning." With that the woman turned on her heel and left, the sound of her shoes click clacking on the floor.

In Pyrrha's anger the knife on the counter went flying into the wood of the doorway as her semblance spiraled out of control. She took deep calming breaths and when she managed to stem her anger, she pulled the knife out of the doorway on her way out and when she got to her desk, she saw a white note on it. It was Neo's. On it, it said, "Better luck next time."

Growling in renewed anger Pyrrha crumpled up the note and tossed it into a wastebasket.

She was going to bring down the Grimm, and along the way wipe Cinder's smug grin off of her face.

* * *

 **Omake: Ruby Tries Interrogation**

"Please Neo? Please oh please? Just this once!" Ruby begged, hands clasped in front of her chest, full face pout going on. She had cornered Neo in the hallway, the dual haired girl looking uncomfortable in the position she was in. "It looks like fun and I wanna try it. Please let me?!"

Neo gave a sigh as she looked away from Ruby. Her pout was dangerous. It had the power to mind control people. Neo didn't want to become a victim of it. But even with her eyes directed away, she could still the full force of the pout, the energy of it hitting her face like a sunbeam. She held up a sign with the words, "No Ruby. I'm the interrogator not you"

"I know you are, but just this once! It looks like so much fun and I've always wanted to try it, to see if I'd be any good at doing things like that." Ruby was not giving up.

Neo held up yet another sign with rejection spelt on it but Ruby didn't even bother to read this one. She hugged Neo. Neo felt her body stiffen up and her sign dropped from her hands as they fell to her sides useless. This was it. Ruby's killer hug. Neo hadn't expected it to be brought out this early. If she had suspected, then she could have crossed her arms to bar the hug from occurring. But now it had happened. And Neo was trapped in Ruby's overpowering embrace of warmth that would instantly win anyone over. Succumbing to the power but not by choice, Neo held out a sign with "Fine. But just once," with once underlined twice with heavy black ink.

"Oh thank you so much!" Ruby cheered, letting the smaller girl go and rushing off to the interrogation room. Neo sighed and let her head droop a little. Now she knew how it had been so easy for Ruby to take over the gang from Cinder.

With slight trepidation she waited ten minutes before she approached the room Ruby was in with her victim. She carefully pressed an ear up to the metal door and heard zooming noises in there, followed by loud screeching. What was going on?

She opened the door only to find Ruby on her knees with the man she was supposed to be interrogating, toy cars spread out on the floor next to them. Neo smacked herself hard in the face. What was Ruby doing?

"Oh hey Neo!" Ruby called when she saw the smaller girl. "Wanna join?"

"What's going on here?" Cinder's voice sounded somewhere behind Neo and the smaller girl turned her head to see Cinder nearing, a dissatisfied look on her face. "Weren't you meant to interrogate him Neo? What is Ruby doing here with him?"

Neo hastily pulled out a sign that said "I'm sorry!" but Ruby also rose to her defense. "It was all my fault. I wanted to try interrogation and she let me so don't be mad at her!"

Cinder let out an angry sigh. "Ruby, don't do things you aren't authorized to do. Their forbidden from you for a reason. And really, cars?"

"I was gonna try to bribe him with them, to cow him into relaxing around me so he could open up to me. Make him think I was his friend!"

"Hey!" the man said with tears shining in his hurt filled eyes. "I thought you really wanted to be friends with me! How could you lie to me?" He then took to sobbing.

"Uh!" Ruby was panicked. She hadn't meant to make Neo get in trouble, or for Cinder to get mad or for this man to get sad.

Just when she reached a hand to comfort him, Cinder snapped out, "Ruby, let Neo get back to her work. Come with me." She crooked her finger.

"Aww, shucks," Ruby hung her head, her kicked puppy look on her face. Neo avoided looking at it and went into the interrogation room where she would be safe from it. She hated leaving Cinder outside unprotected from such a look...but Neo didn't want to get caught in the cross-hairs.

"I'm sorry, Cinder. I wasn't thinking about how my methods could ruin the information gathering," Ruby said softly and Cinder began to soften up when she saw how sad Ruby looked.

"Yes, well, uh, it's alright. Here, why don't I show you how to properly do an interrogation?" An idea crossed Cinder's mind. One very naughty idea. "It'll help cheer you up."

"That's great!" Ruby's enthusiasm returned to her. She was happy Cinder wasn't mad at her.

"I can play the role of the interrogator and you can be the victim. How does that sound?" Cinder suggested as she lead Ruby towards one of the gray rooms.

"That sounds great!"

 **A/N: So I guess this little omake leads us to the beginning of chapter one. LOL. Had no idea this is where it would go when I first thought of it.**


	20. Chapter 20

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter 19: Cinder-Ella

 **A/N: This chapter is the start of a battle arc that I'm gearing up for.**

Cinder was pretty. Even as a little girl everyone would gush over her dark luscious locks, her pert lips, her perfectly sculpted brows, and her fair skin. Everyone everywhere envied her for her looks and that was equally true of Cinder's two step sisters. Although where other girls could only sigh from the side, they could do so more malignantly. For Cinder's life at home was horrid. Her mother had died young, and her father had raised her by himself. But seeing as his daughter needed a mother to help her grow up proper, he took to remarrying. And he married a monster and her spawn. Cinder's stepmother was horrid. Not so much in the beginning as Cinder's father was there to protect his daughter. But when he passed away when Cinder was at the tender age of six, they sunk their claws into her.

She essentially became their servant. She cleaned for them. Cooked for them. And did any and all inane task they demanded her to do, some which were impossible just so they could watch her fail for kicks. All because they were jealous of her beauty. They hoped that by working her hard she would lose her looks but if anything they only perfected. Her baby fat melted away from her cheeks from lack of full meals and her limbs grew long and lean from hours of scrubbing and running around the giant mansion to clean.

This only pissed the step family off even more. They took away all her nice things. No longer did she sleep on her bed of goose feathers but on a bed in the servant chambers. Her clothes were brown and drab. And they even cut off her hair until I was nothing but short and choppy, barely reaching her chin.

In those early days she was often scared and felt alone, crying for her father out of sorrow, and yelling at him, accusing him of leaving her, other times begging him to come back. She wished that someone could come rescue her, like the princesses in the books she hide from her step family were saved, by handsome princes on majestic horses. But when five years passed and no prince came to save her, Cinder decided it was time to save herself. Wishing and waiting would do her no good.

She was fed up with the horrid treatment. They were living on her father's riches. On her father's lands. And they dare treat her, her father's daughter the rightful heir, as garbage? Cinder was done with this, the awful haircut being the final straw. She was tired of being the pin cushion for their anger and resentment. She was tired of cleaning up after them. Of seeing them around. She burned on the inside with bitterness. It ate up at her. It inflamed her. Scorching her heart. Filling her lungs with hot air that spilled from her lips as venom. No more would she be a doormat.

Her anger grew until it manifested into her semblance. It gave her power. It fueled her. And soon her step family was at her mercy. In secret she bid her time, working on her powers and one day, when it was her step mother's birthday, she baked a most wondrous feast for her. Of course the old cow had found fault with every dish Cinder had labored tirelessly over on, embarrassing her in front of the table full of guests. Invited officials from politics and rich families sat there and dined while Cinder was shamed. Cinder swallowed down the insults dealt to her but she did so eagerly only because she knew that she would have her vengeance. She could taste it. Sweeter and more filling than any dish she could eat.

At the end of dinner, Cinder went to fetch the cake that she had made. It was huge and it towered over her eleven year old figure. But she took slow and careful steps so she could deliver it right in front of her step mother. The cake had candles sticking out of all the layers, arranged neatly. The candles were already lit and Cinder stepped off to the side to the wall as the guests began to sing the birthday song, rising to their feet, glasses of alcohol grasped in their hands. Cinder's two step sisters also rose by where they were sitting by their mother at the head of the table. Only she remained sitting down, her greedy eyes taking in the sight of the beauty of a cake in front of her.

The song was reaching an end now and Cinder smirked. It was time. As her step mother rose to lean over the cake and blow the candles down, Cinder clenched her fist. Immediately the flames on the candles roared upwards, bursting into a terrific conflagration. The woman jerked backwards with a pain filled scream. Her hands were flailing around her face trying to extinguish the flames but the flames wouldn't die. The guests were in a panic, looking around frantically what to do. The two step sisters were screeching in panic. One man had the idea to pour some water on the woman's face but the flames could not be doused. They only rose up higher, Cinder's wrist tendons sticking out with effort in maintain the flame. After a couple of more terrific seconds where the older woman's screams could not be quieted down, and as the guests cried out in panic and tried to fan her face, to put it out, hindered by the flailing woman's jerky movements which made her unable to be held in place and truly helped, it stopped.

Her stepmother finally slumped against a curtain, after her hands had curled on the fabric as if she could somehow wipe her face free of fire there. Her body stilled and she moved no more. And then the fire went out, revealing the charred remains of the woman's face.

The sense of relief that flooded Cinder's body was immense. It felt like all the offenses that had been dealt to her over the year's had just melted away, like her step mother's flesh had. But she was the only relieved one. Everyone else was horrified.

Cinder's two stepsister's threw themselves on their mother's body, crying heavily while one or two women in the room fainted in shock at the ruined flesh. Some men propped them up on the couches and took to fanning them to get them revived.

"Get back," one of the guests ordered to the two girls as he and another tried to pry them off. "We need to call the police."

"Servant girl," the other one snapped his fingers at Cinder. "Go get help."

This brought a sense of irritation to Cinder. She wasn't a servant! She was the rightful heir of this house! She could feel the fire in her burning and swirling again, demanding exit from her flesh. And so she would let it go.

Waiting just long enough so she could stride in the direction of the door, she made them think she was going to go get help when it fact she closed the double doors, turning the key and pocketing it.

"What are you doing?" asked one of the guests as Cinder turned her back to the door, a smile gracing her lips.

"It seems there is a deceased person in the room. It would be best to burn the body so as to prevent scavengers from praying upon it." Cinder's voice was calm even as her hands shook. She had thought that by killing her step mother it would have somehow magically reverted her back to her high status. But it did no such thing. The men and women here still gazed upon her as nothing but dirt under their shoes, as a servant to be ordered around. And Cinder's father had always called her his little princess. Now it was time to reclaim that title; to rebuild her own kingdom.

"What are you going on about?" asked a man with a beard in annoyance. "Stop acting foolishly and go get help."

"There will be help. I'll be helping the world by getting rid of all of you," Cinder said through gritted teeth. Flames licked up and down her arms, causing all of the guests eyes to open wide.

"She has a semblance!" one of them shouted out. "A fire one!"

"She was the one who made the candles do that to our mother!" Cried out one of Cinder's step sister's.

"She killed our mother!" was the tear choked cry of the other.

"She deserved to die!" Cinder wailed back. "You all do for looking at me as if I was worthless. For treating me like some sort of creature less worthy than a human!"

"We must apprehend her and bring her to the police!" a foolish but brave man voiced, rushing over to Cinder, hand clawing to grab her shoulder.

She sent a fire ball directly at him and he doubled over in pain as it hit his midriff, the stench of burning flesh and clothing filling the air. His cries made everyone else fall into a fresh panic. Some tried to pry the windows open, others tried to advance at her and hurt her but none succeeded and by the time the clock chimed one in the hallway, Cinder exited the room. The smell of fire and ash clung to her skin and her fingers were burned from using her powers for too long. She had never used them like this before and her skin was tender and sore. But that amount of pain was nothing to the relief she felt at having taken out her anger upon those people in the room. But the relief would be short lived, for the injustices that she had suffered stayed with her like a second skin and would not leave her no matter how many she killed or how she killed them. They left a burn on her life stronger than any flame could produce and for that she was bitter.

This bitterness she hid but clung onto for it was what fueled her to be a better villain. To make sure that no one ever again could be cruel to her, for she would be the cruelest and the evillest, ensuring the worst things to occur could only be wrought upon by her hand, a hand that would never hurt her and thus leaving her protected from the worst harm.

And so on that faithful day when the guests to a birthday party suddenly all went up in flames, Cinder called the police and lied to them, saying that she had put the flames out but was too late to do anything about it. She kept her semblance a secret, for she did not want to incriminate herself. But she shouldn't have worried too much, the police believed her and her lies when she said that her loyalty to her step family kept her fighting to put the fire out even though it was too late.

That was the same day that Cinder was cast out of the house and into an orphanage because no one could take care of her as she had no family and because she could no longer stay on the land as it wouldn't properly be her property until she reached the age of 18.

It was also the day that Cinder met Salem.


	21. Chapter 21

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

Chapter 20: Salem's Trial

* * *

Salem was the owner of the orphanage and the weirdest looking human being that Cinder had ever seen. Cinder often thought her to be made up, some figment of the imagination of a greater god that had forgotten about her and accidentally let their unfinished creation roam the earth. Her skin was as pale as a ghost's, her hair just as translucent. Her eyes were an unnatural red that matched the veins that stuck out on her face and hands, pulsating angrily whenever she was riled up or in one of her foul moods. She looked more like a villain than someone who should be watching over a bunch of young and impressionable kids had any right to do so. Cinder would have liked to meet the person who had thought sticking Salem here would have been a good idea and give them a piece of her mind. As it was she was stuck here until she turned 18 which was a good seven years from now, a vast eternity stretching before her. She could wait it out patiently or burn down the place, an idea that was beginning to seem more and more like the smart choice. For not only did Salem look like a villain, she actually was one. Cinder was certain of it.

It all started with the additional attention. Salem seemed to have some sort of idea that Cinder had been the one to set the fire despite the cops writing Cinder off as innocent, which wasn't a wrong theory, but because of this idea, Salem took to keeping an eye out on Cinder. She would keep her in her sights during mass meetings when all the orphans would be outside playing in the rundown yard (for even the orphanage looked like a villain hideout, all gloomy and dusty rooms with little to no windows and a yard full of concrete and weeds) or during meal times. And then sometimes she would call her into the office and ask her questions about how her life used to be, about what sorts of goals she'd like to do in the future, what her hobbies were. Cinder had thought this normal behavior at first. But then when she began to ask the others, she noticed that no one had this much abhorrent attention given to them. This made Cinder wonder why. And she soon got her answer.

It turned out that the orphanage didn't get a lot of money from the state to be run. And what was given was quickly gambled away by Salem in the underground gambling rings she lead. This always caused a deficit in money, money that should be used to fed and clothe the orphans in the first place. And how did Salem cover up this deficient from the authorities? By sending her kids to go steal.

She had a group of trained older kids that she would send out at night in order for them to break into stores and the likes under the cover of night and bring her the goods. These kids all had semblances and used them for dastardly deeds. And Cinder was soon brought into this circle of young criminals. Salem tricked her into using her semblance one day, ensuring that Cinder would no longer be able to cover it up and keep it secret from her.

Then she pressured Cinder into going on errands for her, for if she did not, then Salem would tell the police the truth about what Cinder had done and she would certainly never get her inheritance back. And Cinder most certainly did not want to get reprimanded for killing all those people. She wasn't frightened so much of jail as she was of losing her father's property and money for good, for those were the only things she had left of him and she treasured them dearly.

So Cinder went on these errands for Salem. It wasn't without complaint at first. She fought against it, saying it was wrong, that she had no need to do it. But Salem had beat her, threatened her, and beat her some more to within an inch of her life, all while showing no remorse for it. And Cinder could do nothing about it since it turned out Salem had a semblance that allowed her to dampen other semblances. Meaning Cinder's powers were useless. And there was no way that Cinder could physically beat the older woman. She was trapped yet again with a horrid woman she could do nothing about but wait until an opportune moment arose.

Slowly by slowly Cinder was forced into doing these petty crimes, but while Salem could force her to do this, could break her body into tiny pieces with her bare hands, she could not break Cinder's soul or spirit and the girl only harbored her anger, letting it grow hotter and hotter inside her the more time went by.

But she supposed she did owe Salem some thanks even though she mistreated all the orphans, not just Cinder. It was because of her that Cinder grew more immune to physical harm. It was thanks to her that she became better at planning how to infiltrate places to rob them, faster at running away, more skilled at using her powers, and sharper at outsmarting others. With Salem as her mentor and the other kids used for gaining money by her side as her sometime friends sometime enemies, for everyone of them vied for Salem's affection and praise which she rarely doled out, Cinder was able to grow conniving. She was able to orchestrate her own escape. For Cinder knew that no prince would come rescue her. She had to save herself once more, this time from the evil clutches of another woman who was supposed to be a mother figure to her and to others.

And one day she burned the whole place down, with all the orphans still inside for surely this would be a better fate for them then to have to go out into the world unloved and with nothing to come to and nothing to contribute. Salem burned with them, Cinder having timed everything so that the woman would come home drunk from gambling and fall asleep into an alcohol induced slumber that would leave her unable to react in time and restrict Cinder's powers.

Now fourteen years old, Cinder stumbled out into the world with her meager belongings of a single suitcase of clothing and with all the cash that she had stolen from Salem before destroying her. She was going to make it out in this world one way or another, and Salem had given her the skills to doing so although they were quite unsavory.

She started out small. She went into the underground looking for someone to take her in, any criminal syndicate would do. All she needed was to work hard and prove her worth and from there she could rise to the top. Working an honest job wasn't even an option in her mind. She had stained her hands with too much blood for that to be a possibility.

She was laughed at at first, many telling her that there was no use for a pretty face like her's in the dirty world of violence and testosterone. They told her to just sell her body if she wanted work or money, that she could get a lot due to her looks. She quickly shut down any and all pimps ideas about using her by frying their nuts off. Eventually she got a job as a secretary to this one gang's boss. He was quirky and weird and had a terrible sense of how to run things, that was why his gang was doing terribly, not that he was prone to notice. He enjoyed spending more time in strip clubs then he did in planning out heists or trying to bring money in.

She wasn't paid a lot and had to sleep on other people's couches when her check wasn't enough to pay the rent sometimes, but she worked hard. For his failures would be her successes, she just had to give it some time.

She was too young in his eyes to be out on the field and so she satisfied herself with doing paperwork for him now. Working in this position would give her access to his private office and to sensitive information about the going on's of the gang and other gang's as she scheduled their meetings.

She played dumb, kept her head down when she had to. During her years of serving her vile stepmother she had learned there was a time to act and look dumb if only to make others less assuming of her. This Cinder did for a while, even entertaining the gang leader's notions that she might be romantically inclined to him. During this whole time, when he thought she was working for him, she was actually working against him. She teamed up with his enemies behind his back and orchestrated certain events of bad luck to befall the gang's operations, weakening them considerably.

And when everything lined up right she let the war commence. Gang turned on gang. It was bloody, and many fell to the war. But when the end came she took command of the shattered remains of the two gangs and united them so that they could fight back against the other groups that wished to bring them down, police and criminal alike.

From there her power and influence grew. It wasn't easy. Many did not want someone like her at the head of a gang, especially since she had appeared out of no where and swooped the remains of the gang together. But a quick conflagration, a choice word, or display of power, and the skeptics shut up in the face of her wrath. She brought the gang back into form, letting them rise through the ranks. She re-branded them as the Grimm, monsters of the night, terrifying police and civilian alike with their white and black masks, as she knew that a good label was everything. If she pushed it strongly enough soon just the very name or logo of her gang could scare away others. And it would in the future. But it would take six hard years of work for her to achieve that level in the eyes of the public.

It helped that by the time she was 18 she got her father's fortune. Using it, or what was left of it, since her step family had seen to squandering most of it, she was able to help build up her criminal group. And by the time she was 22, all of Vale was under her control. She was proud of what her hard work had brought her. She was at the top of her game, reaching her prime and the golden age of rule in regards to her gang. She knew this glory wouldn't last, as all good things came to an end. And she was right.

It happened when she was 24.

Along came Ruby and swept away Cinder's control over the gang, as well as swept away Cinder's control over her own heart. For the black haired woman had sworn never to love another. After all, her father had loved another and it had caused him to be blind to their evils, leaving Cinder in such a horrid position, in such a direction upon a path that she had no other choice but to chose evil to save herself.

Yet Ruby had changed the older woman's convictions and Cinder had been unable to stop herself from falling in love with her. Maybe it was because she saw herself in the girl? After all, Ruby was powerful just like Cinder was with her semblance, perhaps even more so due to her abnormal strength. Ruby was who Cinder could have been if she had grown up in a family where her father was still alive. If she hadn't been tormented by Salem's hand. Yet Ruby was throwing it all away just for Cinder. Was it then Ruby's strong love and devotion to Cinder that made Cinder herself change her opinion on love?

No, it wasn't that. It was because Ruby had finally done what Cinder thought never would occur to her; it was something she thought was only reserved for fairy tales like those she had read in her books as a child.

Ruby had been Cinder's prince.

She had rescued her.


	22. Chapter 22

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

* * *

Chapter 21: An Unexpected Visitor

* * *

"Cinder, there's someone here to see you," Emerald announced as she peered into the room that Cinder was in currently. The older woman was sitting in her armchair, reading over some reports filed to her by her subordinates and enjoying a glass of wine held in her right hand.

"Are they on the schedule for today?" Cinder asked without picking her head up, her eyes tracing the words on the paper in front of her.

"No, their not," Emerald admitted.

"Then send them off. If they want to meet with me they must have a scheduled appointment," Cinder waved a hand to shoo Emerald away.

Emerald bowed her head in compliance of Cinder's wishes before going off. Cinder was able to return to her reading, thinking the matter over when Emerald came back in, a more distraught expression on her face. Distraught, for she did not want to keep bothering Cinder. The woman hadn't yelled at her for disturbing her yet but she was sure she would in a few more minutes. It was just that the person who wanted to see Cinder was so insistent!

"Uh, Cinder," she started, eyeing the other nervously for any sharp spikes in anger. So far there were none.

"What is it Emerald?" Cinder asked calmly, sipping on her ten thousand dollar wine.

"The person says this is very important and that you definitely don't want to miss meeting with them."

Cinder snorted. "Tell them I decide what is important and what is not. Tell them I will not accept this sense of insolence from them. Clearly they must not know who they are speaking to!"

"Right away," Emerald backed out of the room and left to go tell the visitor this. Unfortunately they did not take the advice Cinder had given them and thus the green haired girl was back to tell Cinder for a third time. "They still don't want to leave," Emerald informed, cringing as she saw Cinder's nostrils flare, a sign that she was beginning to get annoyed. _I hope it's not at me!_ Emerald hoped internally. Last time Cinder had lost her temper at Emerald she had made the green haired girl run downtown naked and back.

"Who is this person that they don't understand that no means no? If they don't want to leave then get them to leave physically," this time Cinder picked up her head to look at Emerald, a commanding look on her face.

"Of course!" Emerald went on her way.

Cinder then settled back down into her armchair, trying to push the brief flare of annoyance out of her system. Another gulp of her wine helped secure that. The wine was simply the most delightful thing she had ever tasted. She only wished she could drink some with Ruby but she would have to wait three more years until the girl was eighteen. Maybe then the girl would be able to handle her liquor. Cinder had tried to give her some for her recent fifteenth birthday and let's say the result wasn't very pretty. The girl had gone through so many mood swings that Cinder had never thought a human could be capable of all these different emotions.

Although it had been a bit funny. Cinder had made sure to record all those funny faces Ruby had pulled. She'd use it as blackmail too if the girl ever thought of not listening to her again when she told her to lay off the cookies or else she'd get another cavity, and Cinder was certainly not dealing with her and going to the dentist a second time. Last time that had happened she had to burn the establishment down in order to hide the evidence of what Ruby did.

Cinder was deep in her thoughts and didn't notice that someone else had entered her room until they spoke. It was a voice she knew all too well. It had haunted her dreams sometimes, dreams full of fire and angry hands and pale skin and children screaming. She knew she had heard correctly, but she didn't want to believe it was true. It shouldn't be true! She'd killed her herself!

The glass in her hand cracked as her grip tightened on it, spraying red liquid and shards of glass all over Cinder's shirt front and over the floor, and the paper in her other hand crumpled up. She clenched her hand into a fist to hold back the wine that spilled freely like blood.

"Hello, Cinder."

The voice was civil, warm yet cold, like one talking to a friend they were slightly upset at but didn't want that friend to know they were upset at them. It made disgust crawl up and down Cinder's back. Slowly she turned her head to face her guest. Standing in the doorway, wearing black flowing robes fit for an evil sorceress and skin as pale as snow, was Salem, hands folded in front of her.

"Salem," Cinder stood up at this, the sight of the woman sending shivers down her spine. So it was true. The woman was here in the flesh and bone and Cinder hadn't merely misheard things like she wished she had.

"Yes, that is my name. I was a tad worried you wouldn't remember me," the older woman admitted, her inhumane red eyes boring into Cinder's face. "After all, you were quite in a rush to leave the house after you burned everything down. How horrid of you, killing all those poor children. Who do you think you are, deciding their fates, and cutting their lives short? You think yourself a god?"

"Where's Emerald?" Cinder couldn't imagine her secretary would let this monstrosity just walk casually in. "What did you do to her?"

"Oh, you mean the sweet little green haired girl? She's only sleeping off a bit of pain right now. But she'll be fine when she wakes up. I'm not here to hurt her." Salem's eyes twinkled malignantly.

"What are you doing here?" Cinder spat out, not willing to let the villain take the high moral ground. Salem had no right to accuse her of being evil when she had been the one who made Cinder like this through countless hours of torment, mental and physical. Cinder didn't want to remember but she did, all the long hours she'd spend locked up in the dank dark basement after being beaten severely, hanging from chains by her wrists as Salem tried to break her body and soul. But she'd never been able to. And never would.

"I'm here to talk to you about a proposition-"

"Not that. Why are you alive?" Cinder snarled, a inch of fear appearing in her voice. She tried to hide it.

A smirk spread on Salem's face, her thin white lips stretching gruesomely. The woman's flesh didn't look to have a single burn or scar on it from fire, so how was she fine? Had she escaped before the fire's got her? But no, Cinder had made sure to burn her room first. She had seen the woman's pale face contort in pain as her skin boiled on the funeral pyre had bed had now become.

"I would wager you would be interested to know. Especially given all the effort you put into burning the place down. But that is not what I wished to speak to you about today and thus I shall not."

"You do not tell me what we will be discussing unless you want to lose your tongue. I'm the one in charge here. This is my gang, my territory. You should be worried of committing a single misstep because if I catch the slightest hint of you wanting to hurt me then I will order my people to rip you limb from limb and then feed those limbs to the dogs."

"You're not the one in charge here. Ruby is," Salem clicked her tongue reproachingly.

Cinder felt shivers go down her spine. Had this woman been stalking them? Getting information on them? But how? Very few knew the true leader of the Grimm gang was Ruby now.

"And speaking of Ruby, you may want to listen to what I have to say next if you wish to see no harm come to her."

"You bitch! You dare threaten to harm her?!" Cinder could feel her anger swirling around inside her and flames danced on her hands. Salem noted the activated semblance with lack of interest. As if she was looking at some common pebble on the street.

"It wasn't a threat but a fact. And I wasn't the one who harmed her." Salem spoke this calmly, as if it made a difference that she wasn't the one to harm Ruby, and Cinder could feel a sense of dread rising in her. Ruby...what had happened?

Her girlfriend had gone out on patrol of the bake shops to make sure no one was threatening them and also to pick up some cookies for later because she was bored and didn't want to read reports with Cinder no matter how much the woman tried to instill in Ruby this practice as she had to know what went on in the gang. Had Salem somehow ambushed her? Ruby was strong and fast but Salem could take away someone's semblance and no doubt this would have tripped the girl up as Ruby didn't know about this particular ability. Still, Cinder couldn't imagine her girlfriend was so easily captured. Cinder glared at Salem, waiting for the woman to speak. Salem, noting she had Cinder's attention, now took her time to speak. "Ruby is quite a young lady. Exquisite. She holds much talent in her. I'm glad you were able to find someone for yourself, although I didn't think you would go for someone so young."

"Get to the point," Cinder gritted out through closed teeth.

Salem paused at this, cocking her head. "Surely you do not treat all your guests this rudely?"

"I treat them however I want."

"You should treat me differently, for someone's life hangs in the balance depending on how succinctly we can get this deal going."

"What deal?"

"Do you happen to have anymore of that wine? I'm feeling a bit parched," Salem ignored Cinder's comment, and the black haired woman fuming, went to her cabinet to pull out the wine and a glass. The last thing she wanted to do was give this monster some of her most expensive wine, but she knew something about Ruby that Cinder did not. And in worst case scenario the woman had captured her. If this was the case then Cinder best go along with the woman's wishes. If she tried to call for help now then there was no telling what could occur. The woman could get angry and order Ruby to be killed. _But whose working for her then, if that's the case?_ Cinder mussed angrily to herself as she poured Salem a cup. She couldn't recall Salem having any friends besides her gambling buddies. Surely they wouldn't become involved with this. Could the woman be bluffing that she had Ruby? No, Cinder knew this woman. The one thing she never did was put on a false front. If she had someone, she had someone. If she did something, she really did do it and in the way she described it, down to the last gruesome detail.

The woman approached and picked the cup up, letting the aroma waft up to her nose. "Ah, Chateau Lafite." Salem sighed as she swirled the wine in her cup. "Are you not going to drink?" she looked over at Cinder who had been glaring at her. "It does not taste as well if someone does not have anyone to drink it with."

Cinder bit back the retort she wanted to yell out but fetched herself another glass, careful to be aware of her surroundings as she turned her back on the other woman. She didn't trust this woman; there was no telling what was up her sleeve. Then Cinder poured herself a glass.

Salem stretched the hand holding her glass towards Cinder's. "A toast to our wonderful reunion."

 _Wonderful my ass,_ Cinder thought but clacked her glass against Salem's and then downed the liquid in her cup in one go. The wine, where it had been sweet before, was now bitter to her.

"Now, can we get onto business?" Cinder asked impatiently.

"Patience my dear. We have much to catch up on. Should you not be asking me how the years have treated me?"

"Horribly I hope," Cinder retorted.

Salem chuckled at this. "I see you carry no interest in seeing how I have fared."

"Much too alive for my tastes," Cinder grumbled out as she watched Salem walkover to the unlit fireplace in the room. The woman gazed down into it. "I suppose I might as well get to the point then, if you are to be so rude to me. I want to make a deal with you." At this she looked away from the fireplace.

"What sort of deal?"

"I want to give you Ruby and in exchange you will give me something."

"You don't own Ruby!"

"No, I don't. But death might own her soon, so if I was you, I would stop interrupting me and let me speak."

This made Cinder hold her tongue. Her next words came out more shakily than she would have liked them to. "What would you want in exchange?"

Salem's lips cracked into a smile at this as Cinder's semblance began to spark out of control due to her worry, the flames rising from her hands up to her elbows.

"I want control over the Grimm gang."

 **A/N: Dun, dun, dunnnn!**


	23. Chapter 23

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

 _Chapter 22: An Unsavory Deal_

"What? Are you out of your mind?" Cinder scoffed, setting her glass down and trying to control her flames. They died down a bit but still tickled at her hands.

"Then you would rather have Ruby die? I never knew you to be this vile, sacrificing your love's life in order to protect a group of murders, thieves, and heathens," Salem hummed. "But if that's your final verdict then-"

"Wait!" Cinder shouted out, panic in her voice. She backtracked when she realized she'd let too much of her inner emotions into her voice. "Wait," she said more softly. "I haven't made my choice."

Salem chuckled at this, setting down her finished glass of wine on the fireplace. "Cinder, no need for you to hold pretenses with me. I know how torn up you are over this. I know the emotional turmoil going through your mind right now. After all, it was why I choose to attack Ruby. Either way you look at it, you're going to be losing something important to you in this situation. The only say you have in this is whether it will be Ruby or the gang."

Cinder grit her teeth. The woman was speaking the truth. It was a tough choice. And without Cinder knowing what sort of danger Ruby was in she couldn't make any rash moves. Could she somehow back out of this corner she had been pushed to?

"Why do you even want my gang?"

"My dear child," Salem said as she slowly began to approach Cinder. "This is what I raised you for, what I cultivated you to do."

"What are you talking about?" Cinder barked out, unnerved by the other woman's close proximity and even more so by her words.

"Do you think you truly went unbroken during your stay in my orphanage?" Salem tipped her head to the side, appraising Cinder. "No, you actually think you did!" The woman cried out with glee when she saw Cinder staring back at her defiantly. "You actually think that I wasn't able to change who you were as a person, but I did. You fought so hard against me, trying to outsmart me at my own game, trying to be stronger than me, more manipulative than me, all so that you could escape the world you were stuck in. So you could escape me. But you can't." At this Salem's tone got lower and more menacing. She gripped Cinder's chin in her hand and the black haired woman was unable to move, sudden fear paralyzing her body. She didn't know why she was so scared of the other. Cinder was the vice commander of the Grimm, the most feared gang in all of Vale! Salem was but a woman who couldn't stay dead, who had been her once aggressor. But Cinder was more powerful than her. She had faced and done worse things than her.

Yet no matter how she told herself this her body would not move.

"I knew you had great potential the moment you walked in through my door. I knew the anger that burned through your veins could be manipulated. So I pushed you and I tested you. I made you hate me just as much if not more than you hated your stepmother. And it worked. Because you went and burned down the whole orphanage."

"You didn't force me to do that. I did it of my free volition," Cinder snapped back.

"You can think that all you want but I know what I did. I fueled your ambition. Who do you think helped you build your career in the gangs?"

"What?" Cinder was confused by this.

"Aww, you think that by pure luck and persuasion you were able to get people to work for you, to help you start that war between the gangs that helped elevate you to power. No, you are wrong. I was there in the shadows. Always a step behind. Always helping you out."

"I refuse to believe that!" Cinder wretched herself free of Salem's hold on her, straightening her back out so she could look tall and intimidating. "I built this gang up by myself. It was _my_ hard work. I do not see the connection between your so called help from the shadows and my rise to power."

"Hmmm, let's leave it at that then. I'm sure Ruby doesn't have the time for me to explain all the ways I helped you. That can come another time," Salem hummed.

 _Ruby! Right!_ Cinder had been so engrossed with arguing with Salem that she forgot Ruby could be hurt badly somewhere right now, bleeding out as they spoke.

"Simply, I invested a lot of time into helping you and I want to reap the benefits of my help by securing this gang which you have cultivated so wonderfully for me," Salem went over to stand by the window looking out it, hands behind her back. The light from outside fell on her face making her look even paler, almost ghost like in appearance.

"So then why harm Ruby?"

"A back up plan in case you wouldn't want to give me what was rightfully mine, which I knew would happen given your temper and stubbornness."

"This gang isn't yours. It will never be," Cinder hissed between her lips.

"Differing points of view, but I assure you mine are the correct ones. You will hand the gang over to me and I will give you back Ruby, along with the antidote she needs to survive."

"You poisoned her!" Cinder's mind flew through a quick list of known poisons and if her chemist's had anything to fix them.

"A colleague of mine did. Nothing that your people have a cure to. And even if you were to go to them for one you wouldn't have enough time to save her. As of now she has an hour to live."

Cinder's eyes snapped wide open. Ruby had an hour to live and here she had been wasting her time! "Where is she right now?"

"She's held by one of my associates. And she will be handed over, along with the cure, provided you give me the gang and step down from power. So what will it be, Cinder. The gang or her?" Salem turned to the black haired woman at this, face impassive and shoulder's rolled back.

Cinder knew without a doubt what was more important to her. But if she gave Salem the gang...there was no telling what she could do with it. Still, there could always be a way for Cinder to get it back. After all, her workers were loyal to her and not Salem. And there was only one Ruby.

"Can I trust you? Can I trust you to not lie to me and give me Ruby with no strings attached?" Cinder asked, knowing she couldn't trust this woman but needing to be able to do so she could make this decision.

"Of course," Salem answered in all seriousness. "I want the gang, and you want Ruby. Why would there be any need to throw unnecessary complications into the deal?"

Cinder grit her teeth and lowered her eyes to the ground. She had never felt more uncertain than she was now. There were too many things that could go wrong with this plan, too many things Salem was still hiding from her. But Cinder knew she would never forgive herself if she couldn't save Ruby. Because Ruby had saved her and now she was the one in need of rescuing.

It was Cinder's turn to be her prince charming.

"The gang is as good as yours. You can take it. Just give me Ruby." This was said with much more difficulty than she would have liked.

Salem's face lit up at this. "I'm glad. But, of course just telling me I have the gang isn't good enough. I'll need you to physically hand it over to me."

"By doing what?" Cinder winced, knowing there must be more to this.

"I want you to announce it in front of the whole gang. Call a meeting. Transfer the power over to me publicly."

"But that will take time! Time that Ruby doesn't have!"

"You're right. So I guess you better get started on that," Salem smiled cruelly. "But since I'm not entirely heartless, I'll give Ruby a little bit of the antidote. This should hold her for another hour or two. And then once I have my gang, you will have your Ruby."

"I despise you with all my being," Cinder spat at the woman who only seemed delighted by this.

Then Cinder turned on her heel and went to her Scroll, calling a few choice people to get a meeting called together.

* * *

It took about half an hour to get the word out and another half to get them into the meeting hall in the main hideout. Each passing second felt like torture to Cinder and she kept imagining that Ruby was dying or already dead. Only Salem's occasional videos of Ruby lying in some dark room on the cold floor, breathing heavily and unconscious kept her hoping that she would reach the girl in time.

Cinder and Salem shared a car to the meeting hall, Cinder not wanting to leave the other out of sight for too long but dreading to have to share the same space and air as her. The car was silent and filled with unbearable tension. Salem was unaffected by it while Cinder internally fought with the turmoil in her. When they arrived the auditorium was full of people, chatting in low tones. When Cinder entered the stage, her heels clicking loudly, they all quieted down and stared questionably at the pale woman walking behind her. They wondered why this meeting was called so suddenly.

Cinder took the podium in the center of the stage and looked over the crowd. This was her family; her pride and joy, and she was going to give them over to Salem. It pained her. All that sweat, blood, tears, but mainly blood, that had been shed in building up this empire, wasted, all for naught.

But she couldn't dwell on that now. She had to carry on. She had to _save_ Ruby.

Her face was an impassive mask as always, even though she was the only one not wearing a mask in the room. Everyone else had theirs on, yet they were more readable than she was in this moment. They were looking at her with awe and admiration. With trust. But she couldn't let them know what was truly going on.

"Fellow Grimm," she started, her voice booming across the room. "I have some news to impart to you. And whether you see it as bad news or good news is up to you." At this the crowd exchanged looks with one another. "I've decided that it would be in the best interest of the gang if I were to step down from power."

There were shocked murmurs that rippled through the crowd like a wave. Cinder raised her hand to silence them. She didn't have time to deal with their reactions; not when Ruby's life was on the line. "I have reigned for a long and prosperous period. And so has Ruby. The both of us, however, no longer see ourselves fit in order to lead this wonderful gang and so we have picked someone to replace us." At this everyone's heads snapped to the pale woman who was standing a couple feet behind Cinder's shoulder.

Cinder moved aside to let the let the woman take the stand. She looked over the large group before her, her eyes glimmering greedily and with barely concealed smugness.

"Greetings Grimm. My name is Salem and I will be your new leader."


	24. Chapter 24

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

 _Chapter 23: All's Unfair in Love and War Specifically When it Comes to Gangs_

 **A/N: Ugh, I really need to fix my updating schedule for this story.**

It was too hot.

It was too cold.

Everything hurt.

It stung, it itched. And worst of all Ruby couldn't get her eyes to open up.

It was dark. And the dark scared her.

"Help...make this stop," she begged, trying to move her arms to brush the dark away except she couldn't move her arms. They felt like they were made of lead, sluggish like her thoughts. She couldn't remember anything. What had happened? What was going on? Where was she?

"Shh, it's going to be okay," a tender voice assured her and Ruby felt comfort at those words. She recognized the speaker.

"Cinder." She wanted to reach out to grasp the woman but her hands wouldn't obey her.

"It's going to be okay. I'm here Ruby." There was the touch of something to her lips. Was it water? Ruby felt parched.

"Can you drink this for me?" Cinder asked gently. Ruby could feel the woman's hands on her, cradling her head, fingers holding up her chin.

Ruby parted her lips a sliver in answer. Cold bitter tasting liquid went down her throat and she swallowed it down, grimacing at the taste.

"That's a good girl," Cinder cooed appreciatively before she began to hum some melody, one that Ruby had heard before but which she couldn't place as to where. And listening to those soft tones made her fall asleep.

Her sleep was restless. She felt like she was being chased by fiery demons that breathed out fire as she ran over a walkway, their breathes coming in through the meshed floor and scorching the soles of her feet.

And then she was so cold, walking through a blizzard without any clothes on, her fingers and toes turning blue. But through out it all she could hear that same melody playing, so that whenever she felt like it got too bad, like the heat was unbearable enough to make her cry, or that the cold was going to finally break her, that voice carried her through, ebbing and flowing like a river of sound. It gave her hope. She followed it through the heat and the cold and the dark until she made it to a door. And then she opened it up, the brightness on the other side astounding her and making her squint.

And when she opened her eyes she found herself on her back on sheets drenched with her sweat. And by her side, sleeping soundly, was Cinder. With trembling hands, as she still felt weak, Ruby let her fingers trace the curve of Cinder's cheekbone. This woke the woman up and she sat up quickly when she saw that it was Ruby that had touched her.

"Ruby." In that single utterance of the girl's name was conveyed all of Cinder's relief and happiness to see her girlfriend awake.

"Hey, Cinder. What happened?" Ruby croaked out, feeling like she had missed something important during the time she was out.

"I should be asking you that," Cinder breathed out as she took in the sight before her. "Do you feel better? No chills, no fever?" Cinder pushed some of Ruby's sweaty locks out of the way so she could kiss her sweaty forehead.

"Ugh, Cinder. Don't kiss me, I'm gross," Ruby pushed Cinder away but due to the poison she was weakened and nothing happened.

"So what happened?" Cinder asked, laying another kiss on Ruby's forehead anyways.

"I was out doing my regular stuff," Ruby recalled as she looked up at the ceiling. "And then this weird man and woman appeared out of nowhere."

"What did they look like?" Cinder interrupted. She knew the woman had to be Salem but who was the man? Cinder wasn't aware that the other had friends.

"One was a funny looking woman. She had really pale skin and weird eyes. And she had this funky power-it stopped my semblance in it's tracks and I couldn't move fast and it was really weird and it sucked major butt cause then I couldn't get out of the way quick enough to avoid getting hurt. And the guy was a faunus. He had a scorpion tail. He was the one who poisoned me when he scratched me with it." As Ruby spoke her memory came back to her. The sudden fight that had erupted between her and the two strangers, the confusion and irritation that she was no longer fast, and the sting and tingle of the poison as it entered her blood stream. So that was why she had been out all this time.

"A faunus?" Cinder asked with a hint of a dangerous growl to her voice. "I thought Adam had made a deal with the Grimm. That we would work together and now he pulls this shit?!" She bolted up from the bed and began to pace around the room angrily.

"Cinder, calm down," Ruby made to sit up but her body was still too weak and she couldn't manage to hold the position for more than a few seconds. "It wasn't one of Adam's faunus." She knew it because he didn't wear the customary colors of the White Fang. And he had refuted her question when she had asked him who he worked for by laughing manically and pointing at that strange white woman.

"And how can you be so certain?" Cinder snapped at her and Ruby flinched, unused to the woman yelling at her. "Sorry, sorry," Cinder apologized when she realized what she had done. "I was just worried over you this whole time. Worried that the antidote wouldn't work."

"Don't worry. I'm fine now," Ruby assured as she flopped back down to the mattress. She didn't feel anywhere _near_ fine, but she was alive, so that would have to do for now.

"No, you're not fine." Cinder sat by Ruby, taking the girl's slender fingers into her clasped hands. "You're weak. You're going to have to stay in bed for a while. I just hope there are no lasting side affects, or else I'm going to kill that woman!"

"I thought you were going to kill her anyways for daring to harm me," Ruby joked weakly, alarmed by the dark emotions she saw swirling behind Cinder's eyes. The last time she had seen a look like this on the woman's face was back before Ruby had saved Cinder. Ruby was so used to seeing only surface level anger and evil on the woman's face, put on more as a facade for the gang and her victims more than anything else. But now there was a realness to her emotions that had Ruby concerned.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ruby asked softly.

"Of course. You shouldn't concern yourself over me. I can handle myself. Focus all your energies on getting better."

Ruby could sense there was a lot Cinder wasn't telling her but the girl didn't want to push it. "Okay..."

"Good." Cinder smiled, her smile doing nothing to assuage the raw emotions whirling behind her mask. "I'm going to get you something to eat. You think you can handle it?"

"Water would be nice." Ruby could still taste the bitter tang of the medicine Cinder had given her.

* * *

Ruby spent the rest of the week rebuilding her strength. She and Cinder were staying at Cinder's father's mansion. It was one of their hideouts, one that Cinder loved since it was the only thing she had remaining that was her father's. Cinder stayed by her side the whole time, feeding her, giving her water, changing her sheets, and washing her. Ruby was certain the other woman even stayed over while Ruby was sleeping. And Ruby slept a lot. She could barely keep her eyes open for more than one or two hours on end. But by the time Friday swung by Ruby was walking around the room, stretching out her sore and weakened muscles. As she was working on getting them moving again she couldn't help but wonder how come Cinder hadn't left the mansion. It seemed like she was always here. Didn't she go back to run the gang? Had she left Roman in charge of it or something just so she could take of Ruby?

Ruby enjoyed the fact Cinder was spending so much time with her but the other certainly had more important matters to attend to.

"Oh Ruby. I see you're up. I'm glad. But don't overdo it with the exercise," Cinder said as she entered the room. She was carrying a cold glass of milk for Ruby.

"Thanks." Ruby accepted the glass and chugged it down eagerly. "And don't worry. I need to put a little stress on my muscles or else they'll never get back up to their full power."

"You don't have to rush with that. We have a lot of time."

"Speaking of time..." Ruby trailed off as she handed Cinder the glass back. "Uh, you certainly must have a lot of time. To be taking care of me and stuff. Good thing you left Roman in charge of the gang, huh?" Ruby laughed awkwardly as she tried to casually to bring up this topic.

Cinder arched a brow. "Roman's not in charge of the gang."

"Who is?'

"Don't worry about it. They won't be in charge for long." And with those ominous words Cinder strode out of the room leaving a confused Ruby scratching her head.

Cinder and Ruby stayed in the mansion for two more weeks. Ruby's appetite had returned ten fold and she was going through enormous amounts of food in order to make up for not being able to eat as much before. Apparently, she had been out of it for three full days. This made her feel uneasy, as did the way Cinder was acting. She made sure to keep Ruby away from any TV's or news sources. It was like Cinder didn't want the girl to see something. But what could it be? She tried to be patient with it, figuring that the older woman would tell her when the time was right; that she wasn't saying anything because Ruby was still weak. But the younger girl was working really hard to get better. Already she could use her semblance again. Still, Cinder said nothing, only avoiding Ruby's questions even more.

Curiosity and annoyance at her girlfriend's actions was burning up in her, making her feel restless. And one day during dinner she could bear it no more.

"You need to tell me!" Ruby demanded, slamming her fist on the table and making the cutlery rattle.

"Tell you what?" Cinder asked innocently.

"What's going on. You can't just bottle everything up and not tell me. I'm the leader of the Grimm. I deserve to know. I'm also your girlfriend and I promised you that I wouldn't let you shoulder the burdens alone."

Cinder sighed at this. "Ruby, you are still weakened from the poison and I don't want to worry you-"

"You're worrying me more by not telling me anything!" Ruby pounded the table with her fist again. "Don't treat me like a little child. I'm the leader of one of the most notorious gangs in the world after all."

Cinder sighed at this and looked down at the table, setting down her utensils before she picked her eyes back up and looked Ruby in the face. "You're not the leader anymore."

This paused Ruby for a second or two. "What do you mean I'm not the leader? Did you take over the position again?"

"No. I didn't. I'm not part of the gang anymore."

"Huh?" Ruby's brows went down in confusion.

"Ruby, this woman...her name is Salem and I know her. I know her because I killed her."

"Killed her?" Ruby echoed.

"Yes. Burned her into dust. But she came back from the dead and I don't know how. She was one of the women who made me who I am today. She abused me, did terrible things to me." Cinder took a deep breath at this, briefly closing her eyes. "And now she was threatening to harm you too. She must have followed the gang's operations very closely. I don't know how she got information on us. But she knew you were the gang leader and she went after you. She hurt you." Cinder's hands curled into fists as her voice began getting choked with anger and pain. "She told me I could help you. That I could keep you from dying if I handed the gang over to her. So I did."

Ruby's eyebrows went up high at this, her mouth gaping open. "You chose me?" she squeaked out after an extended period of silence.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Is it really that shocking?" Cinder gave a bitter laugh.

"You worked so hard to build up that gang and now you just gave up on it? You let her get her hands on it? She's super evil! There's no telling what she can do with all our resources at hand."

"Ruby, there is only one of you," Cinder insisted, placing a warm hand over Ruby's. "And if I had to make the choice again, I'd choose you each and every time."

Cinder's words filled Ruby's chest with warmth. "Don't say that you dummy."

Cinder smiled, looking at Ruby's face with adoration before it dropped back into her cold mask. "Get your rest Ruby. Get stronger again, because we're going to strike back after this."

"I thought you didn't want the gang?" Ruby asked, confused.

Cinder had a lot of time to think about it, and she had come to terms with things. In the grand scheme of things, she was only attached to the gang because it was all she knew for most of her life. But she was certain she could live without it. But she couldn't live without Ruby by her side. "I don't really care whether I have it or not, but I cannot let Salem be leader of them. I cannot let her live." Cinder stood up at this, her voice rising in volume.

"But wouldn't this be a good start?" Ruby suggested in a small voice.

"A good start for what?"

"You always said you wished you had a life away from the gang. A fresh start."

"I did," Cinder said after some consideration as to how to phrase her words next. "But Salem is too dangerous to stay alive. She has some sort of obsession with me, and will no doubt try to hurt you again to get to me. Besides, her powers are too hazardous. She can dampen others semblance's. And I won't let her use that power on you again. I won't let her hurt _you_ again." Then with that Cinder was gone, her heels clicking up a storm as she strode away.

 **A/N: Just for clarification, Ruby is technically leader of the gang, but she is more of a figurehead most of the time because she leaves all the finances and operations to Cinder who also still holds power over the gang. So in a way, their both co-leaders of the gang.**


	25. Chapter 25

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

 _Chapter 24: The Gathering of the Allies_

"We're going to need to get additional man power if we want to take our gang back," Cinder announced steely, marking the start of her crusade to seek out her allies, friends and comrades, or just anyone that could help her win back her gang.

"Cinder..." Ruby had merely looked on at concern at her girlfriend. The black haired woman was acting differently; cold and unyielding. Ruby had never seen her this angry in a while, so intent on ruining someone as she did now. Was Salem such a threat that it warranted Cinder to behave this way? What exactly was her and Salem's past? It couldn't be good given her reaction and further action. "Can't you talk to me about this? I wanna help you." Ruby stuck out her bottom lip at Cinder but the woman ignored this look. She was so angry that even Ruby's heart melting pout wasn't working. That was worrisome.

"Ruby, I don't want you to worry your head over this. I'm going to take care of everything. You just stay at home and regain your strength." Cinder traced a finger down Ruby's cheek. Her words were warm but her eyes were elsewhere, lost to the dark thoughts in her own mind. "I'll be back in a weeks time."

Ruby didn't like this. Cinder was hurting. But she wouldn't open up, wouldn't let Ruby in. And all Ruby could do was stand by helplessly as it happened. "I'll be back soon. And I promise everything will be back to normal." Cinder placed a gentle kiss on Ruby's forehead.

"Cinder...I don't care about being leader of the gang again. As long as I have you, that's all that matters." Cinder was overjoyed to hear that; it meant her and Ruby's feelings were mutual. But her joy was cut short by her anger.

"I know, Ruby. I know. But this isn't only about the gang. It's more than that. And if I don't get this under control then it will only continue to grow until one of us is gone." With those grim words, Cinder turned away, marching away, her heels stabbing down angrily onto the floor.

Ruby watched the girl go, concern on her face. She clutched the front of her shirt. "Stay safe Cinder." She knew there was no talking Cinder out of something if she thought it was the right thing to do. That didn't mean Ruby couldn't help her do it. She wasn't just going to sit at home and let Cinder do all the work.

That meant she was going to have to train. She had a week to do it. She hurried over to find some weights to start with.

* * *

Cinder knew that Salem held the full force of the gang in her hand. That she could unleash the monster the gang had become onto Cinder. But Cinder also knew that the gang was only listening to Salem's commands due to Cinder's request. And if Cinder came back and wanted to fight for her seat of power once more, then the gang would readily and happily disregard Salem's rulings. Not that Cinder would let anything like a full scale war wage. No, this was between her and Salem and whatever henchmen she had on her side.

And because it was going to be a small scale fight, Cinder needed to bring some friends to help her; skilled fighters that were well versed in killing strikes, strategy, and blood. And she knew just who they were. Sadly, Cinder couldn't count on Mercury, Emerald's, Neo's or Roman's help. Contact with Cinder's informant revealed that they were currently imprisoned and being tortured for information on Cinder. Cinder hated that her personal henchmen were being subjugated to such treatment. It only made her want to kick Salem out of power even more. To see her blood spill as her severed head split from her shoulders.

She would need to free them before she took on Salem.

The car she was driving took her to a ruined museum. This place was the hiding spot of Adam Taurus, leader of the White Fang and Cinder's occasional ally when it came to things such as dust and weaponry. Other than that he despised her for being human and she despised him because he was faunus. Theirs was a relationship built on mutual hatred and respect.

The place was under surveillance and she felt eyes on her as she parked her car on the street across and got out. There were no guards or cameras to be seen in the vicinity but that was because Adam didn't need such fancy equipment when he had faunus with eagle vision and super sensitive senses. And just as she climbed up the marble steps to the hideout, she felt the presence of two people behind her. She turned around to see that two White Fang members, wearing their white robes customary of the gang, had dropped down behind her from their shadowed perches in the alcove over the stairs.

"Cinder Fall, what is your business?" barked out one who had a hooked nose and some feathers among his downy head hair. An eagle.

"I'm here to see Adam," she answered smoothly, not going to allow such small fry ruffle her feathers.

"You didn't schedule a meeting with him," growled out the other, a lion faunus, given how there was a natural growl to the words, and a tufted tail lashed behind his back. It was more a statement than a question.

"No. But the matter I have to tell him about is of too much importance to wait on."

"No appointment, no meeting. Turn back now." The lion faunus reminded, the eagle faunus nodding his head in agreement.

"I don't think you heard me," Cinder said slowly and in a low voice as she angled her body towards them. "This is an emergency. I need to speak with him now."

"And I don't think you heard _me_ ," spat the eagle faunus. "I said, no appointment, no meeting-" He was cut off when Cinder grabbed him by the throat and began to squeeze. The lion faunus growled and looked ready to spring forward in attack but Cinder held up her free hand. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. I'll snap his neck faster than you can move, before I gut you." When she saw that the lion faunus listened she smiled tightly. It was good to know she was still feared.

"Good. Now, as I said, this is an emergency and you will take me to Adam. Immediately." Her eyes blazed with the hidden threat of fire.

Cinder strode into the giant gallery, the main hall of where Adam was. Above her a giant whale hung, swinging gently on it's wires in the breeze that came in through the high windows. The museum was dilapidated, rubble and trash littering the worn carpet and the dirty stone cobbles. Broken cases adorned the walls, and stands were scattered throughout the place, some of the animal exhibits still intact whereas other cases were filled with the corpses of dead enemies that opposed the faunus. Cinder had to cover her nose as she walked past them. She didn't know how the faunus, whose sense of smell was ten times what hers was, could stand to smell the rotting leftovers. But she guessed they wouldn't dare to say anything to their leader. Adam had specifically chosen the museum as his headquarters because it was to remind him of the pain humans liked to inflict on animals. He wanted his workers to be surrounded by glass cases of stuffed animals that had been poached by humans and put up as a form of entertainment as a constant reminder. And he wanted to fill the cases with human counterparts as a sick form of justice.

"Cinder, what brings you here? And no less not announced." Adam didn't look happy to see her here. He was sitting on this throne in the middle of the giant gallery, on a raised dais. While the room was empty save for the two of them, Cinder knew someone was watching from the shadows.

He was clad in black with red swirls on his outfit, and a white half mask adorned his face. He was tapping his fingers on the seat of his chair, lips in a frown. "Why did you let her in?" he inquired of his two faunus guards.

"She said it was an emergency," the eagle faunus answered.

"And she was going to kill us," announced the lion faunus with a twinge of shame. They knew enough of Cinder's legacy that she wasn't joking around that she would have killed them.

Adam tched angrily. But it wasn't at his employees. He dismissed them with a flick of his finger. He was angry at Cinder. "You expect me to listen to you after you barge in here unannounced and threaten my guards with death? I should have you thrown out."

"But you won't," Cinder said cockily. "Because what I have to say you will be interested in, because it not only affects me but you and the future of all gangs in Vale."

Adam quirked a brow, intrigued. "And what has happened now? I already know you're not in any position of power any longer. Salem has replaced you and Ruby as leader of the Grimm."

"Yes, and I cannot allow her to hold that position."

"But you gave it up to her yourself."

"Not willingly. She twisted my arm into doing it, and I went along with it or else I risked suffering worse loses." Cinder was trying to be vague because she didn't want Adam to know what exactly had gone down.

"And how is this any of my business?" he waved a hand around.

"It's in your interest because with her as head of the Grimm she will reek havoc on the careful balance we hold over this city. She's power hungry and she won't stop at just my gang. She will be coming after yours next."

"Do you have any proof of this?" When Adam saw Cinder pause for too long before answering, he knew she didn't. He raised a hand to stop her attempts to come up with some lie. "I can handle her. I'm not going to just let her onto my territory like that. And I'm certainly not going to just hand over the leadership to her." A smirk at this as he teased her for her slip up. "This is your problem for having shoddy leadership, not mine. You're losing your touch."

Cinder was not losing her touch! She felt tempted to burn his hair off just to show him how not losing her touch she was right now, but she swallowed down her anger. She needed to think evenly right now. Cinder knew Adam was rejecting her, but she couldn't leave it to end this way. "Adam, I could take Salem down by myself. I really could."

"Good, then go do it and stop wasting my time," he shooed her off, rudely interrupting her.

She ignored that and continued on. " But she's not alone. I have reason to believe she has a group of strong fighters supporting her and I know one of them could of interest to you if you can capture him. Salem currently has in her possession a faunus who specializes in poisons."

"Uh huh, and?" His tone of voice was very dismissive and Cinder tried to not let it irritate her.

"If you help me, his poison is yours to harvest. Think about it. The poison is very strong. Unlike anything I have seen before. It's no doubt been cultivated by that faunus and tailored to bring the most harm around. And if it so happens to fall into your hands..." Cinder spread out her hands, letting Adam catch up with her words.

He was silent as he rubbed his chin. "How do I know this faunus is real?"

Cinder was prepared for this. She had had her informants in the Grimm gang dig up some info for her. She pulled out her Scroll and tossed it to Adam. He caught it and looked at the open picture on it. "Tyrian..." he thumbed through the pictures and files. On it a man with a scorpion tail and brown hair plaited in a long braid was displayed. "A scorpion faunus. How rare." Adam seemed hooked now. "And you say I can harvest his poison."

"Yes. He's all yours." Cinder would have liked to personally kick Tyrian's ass for hurting Ruby so badly but she needed Adam on her side, so she figured it would be better if she left him for Adam to deal. Cinder knew she was powerful but she couldn't take on Salem and all her henchmen. It would be stupid to do so. She needed powerful allies to win.

"And what do you want me to do? Give you some of my men to infiltrate your hideouts? You know I don't want to send my men to die senselessly." Adam knew that his men were facing high casualty numbers if they faced Cinder's men. Cinder had trained her men hard, so that they could stand up to faunus. Even though she and Adam were allies most of the time, it was a good idea to have special anti-faunus units just in case he changed his mind and tried to attack her. And he was aware that she had such forces as her disposition. He had the unfortunate luck to run into them a couple of times when he had decided to end up on her bad side. He had quickly decided he liked her 'good' side better.

"No. I don't need them. I only need you to help me. You, and some powerful fighter on your team."

Adam threw the Scroll back at Cinder who caught it. He stood up from his seat, his hands behind his back. "That sounds awfully like a trap, Cinder. Drawing the leader and his most valuable fighter out," he growled.

"It's not a trap. But I cannot do more to convince you of that matter so I won't even try to. I will just remind you of what is at stake. The balance of the underworld and the ability to procure a weapon of mass destruction."

"Both of which there is shoddy proof of!" Adam began to pace in front of his chair, deep in thought. He was muttering under his breath and Cinder couldn't make out what was being said. She kept her guard up in case he decided to attack her or have her assassinated.

At last he stopped pacing. He had come to a choice. "I've decided I will accept your offer." He looked at her as he said this. "The idea of what I could with that poison...why I could kill all human kind if I wanted to." He chuckled dangerously. "And even if it is a trap, you won't be able to get us."

"Us?" Cinder asked, masking her relief at him taking her offer. She was so relieved she would have his help. He was a true menace on the field. He didn't get to be the head of a rebellion force by being kind and smart. No, it was his brute force that had helped. And his kill count.

But there was someone else that had an even higher kill count. And that was: "Blake. She's coming too." At his words a shadowy form jumped down from the top of the whales hump and back flipped silently to the floor. Blake, the most feared of all assassin's. Even Cinder had to admit that she felt a slight tinge of fear when she looked at the girl.

Blake looked slight and frail but her body was pure sinew and cunning. She was quiet when she went on her missions, so much so that some said she was even quieter than death. She always got the job done no matter what it was. As many people admired her for her tenacity and vision to see everything through no matter if she was injured or not, they also feared her for her skills and semblance. Those who were targeted by Adam could never sleep or have peace, fearing that Blake was shadowing everyone of their moves, waiting for the right moment to strike. Often times she didn't even have to actually follow them, her reputation just proceeded her like that. And when she actually did show up to finish the targets off they would already be so paranoid and scared that they often never put up much of a challenge.

In short, Cinder was happy that Blake was coming along. But also a bit worried. Blake just unnerved her. In large part it had to do with the yellow cat eyes that looked at everything and everyone as if they were just prey for her, prey that she could easily attack if she wanted to but was holding back from doing so because she was better than all of them.

The black haired girl gave Cinder a small respectful bow, her face expressionless from where she stood by Adam's side.

"Good. I'm glad this deal could be made. I will notify you with further instructions when I get the others together."

"The others? Who? I won't be working with someone that is an enemy." Adam was angry, on the defensive.

"I haven't spoken to them." Cinder didn't want to say that there was a chance it wouldn't work out, as she didn't want to appear weak. Many gang leaders wouldn't care that Cinder and Ruby had lost their positions. And she didn't have much to bribe the others with. As long as she had no proof that Salem wanted to rule all of the underworld, there wasn't much she could do. She knew Salem wanted to do this; why go after the biggest gang-the Grimm- if that wasn't her intention. But what Cinder knew wouldn't count. With Adam there had been a 50/50 chance of tempting him with Tyrian's poison working. And although she had told him she would let him have the venom, that was a lie. There was no way she could let that faunus fanatic get his hands on something so potent. He would get power hungry, hurting humans left and right, and one day going after Cinder himself.

So no, he wasn't going to get that poison. But she would let him think he could, even let him take it back home, before she got Emerald to sneak in and steal it away, replacing it with something else.

"I see," Adam said more calmly. "I expect to know as soon as possible. And don't forget, that faunus is mine."

Cinder nodded her head and then turned to leave, some faunus guards outside the gallery leading her out.

* * *

It had been three days after the deal with Adam and Cinder had been having shit luck with getting other gang's to help her. None of them wanted to risk their assets and people for something that was clearly her fault. Cinder had been the one to willingly give up her own position so it wasn't like that warranted a fight or an attempt to get it back. The handing over of power had been done fairly as far as they were concerned and thus it was none of their business.

This was pissing her off. Greatly. Right now she was snarling her disapproval at being rejected once more through her Scroll at the man who had spurned her. Ruby was peeking in on the scene, hiding behind the archway of Cinder's room. It pained her to see Cinder worked up like this, and she wanted to help the woman relax but she knew if she walked in now, she would only get that anger directed at herself.

"I just need one more, one more!" Cinder slammed the Scroll down, having harshly ended the call. That man was definitely not going to be getting any help from her ever.

"One more?" Ruby whispered to herself.

"One more person," Cinder mussed to herself as she went to go make herself a strong drink. She knew Adam and Blake were strong but she didn't want to underestimate Salem's men. That could lead to a surprise cropping up that could cause Cinder to lose. "And then I could go and attack Salem."

Ruby didn't know what Cinder's full plans were since the older woman hadn't told her anything, but so far from what Ruby had heard it seemed it involved Cinder gathering up outside forces to fight Salem and her men. And if Cinder was struggling to do that, then Ruby knew just the person to help them out. "Hold on Cinder. I've got just the solution," she whispered and then snuck out of the house.

Ruby's feet lead her confidently to a little known bar, one that this person frequented often so as to escape the hordes of women that chased after them. Ruby strode into the dingy bar. It was dark and smelly and only a handful of patrons were there. But sitting at the bar faithfully as always, a line of empty shot glasses next to them, was her uncle Qrow.

"Uncle Qrow!" she called out in exuberance. The man span around on his bar-stool, amazingly keeping his balance given how much he had had to drink.

"Ruby!" he cried out with as much exuberance as her, recognizing the petite girl in the red hood anywhere and at anytime.

"How's my little girl?" he asked as he enveloped her in a warm hug as they met halfway across the room.

"It's going great!" Then Ruby sobered up as a thought hit her. "Well, not so much now...there's some trouble."

"Oh oh. That doesn't sound promising. What can uncle Qrow help with? Who needs an ass whooping? Who needs to learn that they have a fear of heights?" Qrow sat back down at the bar and cracked his knuckles menacingly.

"It's...a bit complicated." Ruby sat down too, raising her fingers so the bar tender could slide her a glass of milk. There was no way she was going to touch alcohol. Last time that had happened she had...gone a bit crazy. Okay, a lot crazy. It wasn't fun. And Cinder still had all the videos of it. She would hold it over Ruby's head whenever she wanted to eat an extra cookie before bed as a way of blackmailing her into not eating the sugary sweet. Ruby guessed Cinder was still mad about that dentist appointment last time. "Apparently some crazy woman named Salem has taken over the gang. And Cinder wants to fight her to get control of the gang back. Right now she's trying to garner the support of other gang leaders but it's not going so well. And I'm worried for her. That's why I was hoping you could help me out. See, Cinder needs one extra person to come join, and I want you to join us Uncle."

"And what do you want to do?" Qrow asked her, surprising her with that question. It looked like he was already up for the job, with little to no debate.

"Me?" she sipped on her drink, contemplating the answer. "I don't wanna have to cause a huge fight to occur. I don't want Cinder to fight. I know she wanted to quit the gang life. I know she wants to have a normal life and I thought this would be a great chance for it, but now it seems she doesn't want that. All she's focused on is getting back at this woman. It seems like something happened between her and Salem and she won't tell me anything."

"So it seems like you want to help Cinder, even if you don't want her to fight, yet here you are asking me to help her accomplish just that."

"Yea. I do wanna help her. I just want her to be happy. I don't like seeing her like this. It's like she's...dark again, like she first was when I met her. And I just want her to smile like she did. I want to see her eyes light up."

"Then I'll help. I wanna see my niece happy, and if it means I'll have to fight some evil crazy bitch to see that, then I'll do it." Qrow ruffled up Ruby's hair affectionately.

"Thanks, uncle!" Ruby chirped, before swallowing down the rest of her drink and jumping off of the stool. "Let's head back to the mansion. We need to tell Cinder, so that we can go and get Salem throw out of power as quickly as possible."

 **A/N: Almost done with the battle arc. Just one more chapter I think.  
**


	26. Chapter 26

**RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime**

 **Chapter 25: The Grimm Battle**

They didn't do a pep talk. There was no point in doing one. They all knew what they were here for. Adam for the poison Tyrian held. Blake for Adam's sake. Qrow to support Ruby. Ruby to support Cinder and Cinder here so that she could kill Salem once and for all.

Finding Salem wasn't hard; she didn't have a need to hide from them anyways. In fact, she welcomed their appearance with open arms.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to live with your choice," Salem gloated, standing with her chin jerked arrogantly up in the middle of the massive warehouse she was in. She had just been checking up on an expensive delivery that had been made. In the dim of the warehouse her black robes almost seemed to blend into the dark, making her uncovered head and arms look like they were floating in the air. "You figured out my goal, so you couldn't just sit still and enjoy the rest of your life with Ruby, could you?"

"No. I know you want to use my gang to overpower the others so that you can rule them all. I never figured you for such ambition," Cinder said, as she stood in front of the lone woman, her hands on her hips.

"Really, you must stop thinking of me as your orphanage mother. That was merely a ruse. A cover to finding a down on their luck child which I could remodel for my uses and you just worked out perfectly for me, going so far as to build up such a huge empire. An empire that was mine and ripe for the taking. But you weren't happy. I thought I was doing you a favor, by relieving you of your gang duties, to finally give you the life you wanted with the love of your life."

"I don't want a happiness _you_ give me!" Cinder snarled back. "And I most definitely cannot allow to let your plan to succeed. You're evil."

"Me, evil? Isn't that the kettle calling the pot black? Since when are you such an angel?"

"I never claimed to be one," Cinder said more calmly. She couldn't let this woman rile her up. She needed to think clearly or else she would lose. Pure power wouldn't win against Salem. Rushing headfirst was suicide. Strategy was needed.

"I just don't like sharing the world with someone eviller than me." Then with a twisted smile, Cinder let the blades she had hidden up her long sleeves slide out. These blades were all black and curved in wicked fashions, made of the toughest glass and dark as night; obsidian. Her weapon, Glass Silence. The blades could be united to form a bow; Cinder wasn't going to use her bow just yet. She wanted to feel Salem's flesh rip and tear under her blades.

Salem arched a brow at this. "It's a shame you chose to come after me. Now you'll die and poor Ruby will be by herself." From the shadows behind Salem, three men came out. Cinder knew who they were, she'd seen enough of their faces in notes on them. One was an immaculately dressed man with a dour expression, the other a hulking brute of a man with a beard that was thick and full as a bush. The last was a thin man with a crazed look on his face and soft laughter on his tongue. Watts, Hazel and Tyrian. She appraised them coolly, her lips curling up when her eyes landed on Tyrian, the one who had poisoned Ruby. She really hoped Adam had a cruel plan for that man.

"Maybe once you're gone, I'll be able to comfort Ruby. She is quite delectable," Salem murmured and Cinder bit back the anger and shivers of disgust that rocked her body. Salem was trying to get her worked up. She couldn't let it happen.

"Who said I was alone?" Behind Cinder walked out her three comrades. Adam in his black garbs, the red on them glowing ominously, Blake by his side, face somber. While they walked smoothly up to Cinder's side, Qrow stumbled over, belching loudly.

"No one is touching my niece," Qrow growled out, wiping his mouth and stashing the flask into his pocket that he had been drinking from.

Salem's lips lifted up into a smile. "You brought two animals and a drunk to fight against me? That's like bringing a stuffed animal to a gun fight."

"Animals?" snarled Adam. "I'll show you how much damage an animal can do!" His hand reached for the blade handle.

"And I'm not drunk. Yet." Qrow amended. Cinder resisted the urge to slap her face. Ruby had insisted her uncle was a bad-ass but Cinder failed to see how, if he was drunk the whole time. Yet Cinder had let him on because Ruby had begged and pleaded with those puppy dog eyes of hers.

 _I hope he doesn't die, because Ruby is going to be so sad if he does,_ Cinder thought.

"I suppose it _is_ more of a fair fight now," Salem commented not looking in the least bit worried. "I was worried you'd die in mere seconds but now you have a chance."

"Yes, a chance to kill you," Cinder vowed seriously and with that the battle started.

"You're mine!" Adam snarled at Tyrian, lunging at the man who hopped out of the way.

"Heh!" he laughed, shrill. "The King of the Faunus himself, coming after me? I'm so honored!" He clapped his hands gleefully before raising his arms and arching his tail behind his back. Adam eyed the stinger. That was the real threat in this situation and not the blades on the man's wrists. He would keep that in mind. He activated Moonslice, his semblance, and pulled out Wilt and Blush, keeping the blade and sheath steady as he and Tyrian began their delicate dance in the back portion of the warehouse where it was much darker, but neither minding due to their enhanced eyesight.

"I guess it's me and you pal," Qrow pointed at Watts, the immaculately dressed man. "Shame I gotta fight you, cause you look like you'd be a good drinking buddy."

"I don't drink with hobos," was Watts cool reply as he adjusted the gloves on his hands.

"Hobos?" Qrow looked down at his outfit. "What's wrong with my outfit?"

"It reeks of deadbeat alcoholic uncle. I can't believe I'm stuck fighting you. You better not spill any of your liquor on my clothes." With that he ran at Qrow.

The last match up was Hazel and Blake. The two usually silent people eyed each other up, sizing up their strengths and determining their potential weaknesses.

"Huh, me crush puny little girl," Hazel grunted out, clenching his fingers into fists. He was clearly glad that Blake was small and seemed to present no challenge to him.

"No. Me crush giant idiot," Blake said quietly and then jumped into the shadows by her left.

"?" Hazel was left scratching his massive forehead in confusion. "Where did puny cat girl go?" Blake had all but melted into the shadows.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ruby was back at the Grimm base, heading towards the dungeons. She was grumbling slightly to herself, upset that Cinder had agreed to let Ruby join the mission only to send her to free Neo, Roman, Mercury, and Emerald from the prisons.

"Ugh! I wanna fight!" she cried out like a little child, pouting fiercely. "I am _so_ having a talk to when I get Cinder alone." Ruby approached the prison cells, making out two huddled forms on the ground. Huh? Only two? Where were the others? Had they been moved?

Ruby unlocked the doors and then in a soft voice, asked, "Mercury, Emerald? Are you guys okay?"

The huddled forms on the brick floor stirred and picked up their heads to look at her. Their faces were bruised and they had empty expressions on their faces. "What did Salem do to you? I hope she didn't hurt you too badly." Ruby hated to see her workers hurt, unless she was the one doing it; it was her job to discipline members of the gang if they slacked in their duty.

The two of them stood up wordlessly, unnerving Ruby with the vacant look in their eyes. Something didn't feel right. And when they lunged at her, hands outstretched, she knew what it was.

They were under mind control.

* * *

"You've sent Ruby to get your henchmen free, haven't you?" Salem asked as slowly pulled out her weapon. It was a whip with a barbed end, something that Cinder thought was an odd fit for Salem. She didn't look like the sort to use a whip. Maybe something more elegant, or sharp edged. The whip was long and white, reminding Cinder of a pale root. And as Salem unfurled it, it began to glow, red veins full of dust crisscrossing the length of it.

A whip was long range, which meant Cinder's blades would be pretty much useless-she wouldn't be able to get close enough. It looked like it would be the bow after all.

"Where Ruby is, is none of your concern. You should be focusing on your imminent demise at my hand," Cinder growled out, uniting her blades together to form her bow. Three arrows were conjured up magically by the weapon's power, their tips hot with fire.

"Ah, so you did send her there. You wouldn't let her fight because you are worried for her, because you think of her a child still. But I must say, when Tyrian and I fought her, she did not cut and dice and slice like a child. She reminds me a lot of you. She's powerful; and she carries heaviness in her heart. She was slighted by her parents like you, and so the anger she has rivals your penchant for holding long grudges."

Cinder fired three arrows right at Salem's head, not in the mood to listen to her blabber anymore. Salem simply tilted her head slightly to the right to avoid them, not fazed at the deadly instruments that whizzed right past her. "I watched as the two of you gravitated closer. Watched as the two of you were first introduced to one another. It was hilarious to see your shocked expression when she decided to join your gang even though she had been destroying it mere seconds ago. But it was to be expected." At this Salem dodged the two other sets of arrows thrown at her head.

"Will you shut up and fight me?" Cinder hissed, her skin prickling uncomfortably. How much had this woman seen? And how? How did she know all this?!

"Because, after all, the two of you are the same. And you Cinder, you see in her someone you can mentor, someone who you can turn into your protege, much like I did with you."

"Shut up! I would never do that to Ruby! I would never twist her future like that! Every decision she makes is hers! She won my position from the gang fair and square!"

Salem tipped her head. "Oh, really? Then why is it that you still make most of the decisions for the gang? Why is it that right now Ruby is out rescuing your henchmen when she is gang leader and should be fighting in this battle? It seems to me like you have a lot of control over her."

Cinder felt anger fill her senses, making her hands shake. "It's because she doesn't have the head for reports and finances for the gang. I'm doing it help ease her leadership. I'm doing it to keep her safe from harm because I care about her. I am not acting like you! I would never force her to become a monster like the one you made me! Everything she does is what she wants to do! I AM NOT YOU!"

Salem's lips stretched in a smile, speaking in a fake sweet voice. "We'll see about that. Also, I thought it would be kind to let you know that Ruby's not exempt from battle because there's a little surprise left for her at the prisons."

"What? What did you DO?!" Cinder was screaming but she didn't care. She pulled back on her bow and shot off arrow after arrow. Salem used her whip, the white object flicking through the air and with loud snaps knocking the arrows away from the air.

"I didn't do anything, but even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. So you better hurry up and finish fighting me before they get to her."

 _Shit, whose they? Does she have more associates I don't know of?_

* * *

But how? Who had done it? Ruby had heard of mind control Semblances but they were really rare and hard to manage, for sometimes the semblance could cause the mind which was being controlled to be crushed under the pressure of the power. Ruby needed to get her henchmen back to their senses, which meant she would have to hold back when she kicked their ass, even though she knew they were probably going to not stop fighting until they made her unconscious or killed her. She didn't know what order they had been given.

Ruby only managed to bring out her scythe blade in time to block the kick from Mercury's legs that would have cracked her ribs. The force of the blow still sent her flying through two brick walls and into an empty jail cell.

They ran after her, and as Ruby lifted up her blade, it scrapped against the low ceiling, getting stuck. "Shit, there's not enough room here. I need to get outside." She eyed the window behind her. It was small, but light shone through, meaning there was an outside on the other side. Ruby turned her attention back to Mercury and Emerald who were both lunging at her and gearing up for a combined roundhouse kick at her. Ruby flattened herself against the brick wall, folding her weapon so it was more manageable, and when they were in position she rolled out of the way and they broke through the wall with their kick. Green grass and trees could be seen outside. And lots of space.

Ruby let a small smile grace her lips.

* * *

"Would you-hold still?" Qrow huffed out between breaths, throwing the weight of his scythe around only for it to sink into concrete or boxes of dust each time rather than the body of his enemy. Watts would not stay put, dodging all of Qrow's attacks with bored ease.

"I already told you, I don't fight hobos." He looked at his gloved fingers in disinterest, one hand behind his back. "But, if you're really itching for a fight, I do know some people who can." At this two figures dropped down from the ceiling, back flipping before they landed with soft thuds. As they straightened up Qrow could see who they were. A little girl with two tone hair and an umbrella. And a man with a hat and cane in his hand.

"Who are they? You're little drinking pals?"

"No, just friend's of the Grimm."

"Ah, if that's the case, then hey guys I'm Qr-ack!" Qrow outstretched his hands to greet them, a smile on his face, only to have the tip of the umbrella slid into his mouth. He started down the object to meet the vacant two toned eyes of the girl.

"I forgot to mention, they _used to_ be friends of the Grimm. Not so friendly anymore."

Then with that Neo clicked the trigger of her umbrella gun.

* * *

Adam was spinning his sword and sheath around madly in order to counter the blades and tail of Tyrian. The man was like a whirling dervish and Adam had trouble holding up to his speeds. And Tyrian didn't seem afraid of facing Adam like most of the bull faunus's opponents were, which eventually aided in their downfall. Tyrian loved it, loved every single minute of this fight. Something wasn't right with the man in his head.

"Ahahah!" he laughed as he sent attack after attack at Adam. Adam knew he couldn't keep up this pace forever. He needed to do a final brute strike to sweep Tyrian off of his feet, grab his tail and then run, as his part of the bargain was up. That's right, as soon as he won the tail he was leaving Cinder behind. After all he had fulfilled his part of the deal by coming here and fighting and he didn't see the purpose in staying longer after he had gotten his prize. Cinder could handle the rest herself.

* * *

"Where are you!" Hazel bellowed out loudly, tossing and pushing cases of dust aside in search of Blake. The girl was nowhere to be seen. He had really been looking forward to having this fight with her. To crushing her in his massive hands. He headed towards a part of the warehouse where there was an overhanging walkway. Standing under it and scratching the side of his face, he didn't notice Blake, who hanging down down upside down from the walkway by a ribbon from her Gambol Shroud, wrapped a ribbon around his neck and began to tighten it.

Hazel's hands went up to his throat and he tried to twist and turn in the hold but Blake held on tight. Had Adam wanted this man killed? No, he had only said to stun or knock out enemies, that they weren't here to work as Cinder's disposal team.

So Blake kept the ribbon in place only long enough to cut off the oxygen that would result in Hazel passing out. The man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and his mouth gasped uselessly for breath before his hands dropped to his side and Blake removed the ribbon letting him drop to the floor. He made a massive thud noise upon impact while she made no noise as she dropped down by him. She looked at his prone form, then bent down to quickly riffle through his pockets. It wouldn't hurt to check if he had any cash on him.

* * *

Ruby raced through the trees, Mercury hot on her trail. He was the only one who could sort of keep up with her semblance, but only for a set amount of time before he started to lag behind. He was ten paces behind her, now twenty, now fifty as Ruby poured on the speed. Mercury's legs, while enabling him to be faster than regular humans, were no match for Ruby's powers. They let her get ahead of him and then she swerved to the right and hid in some bushes, waiting for Mercury to come by. The man's heavy footsteps and gasped breathing were heard long before he was sighted. That man could be as loud as a train when he was using his legs. Good thing he wasn't used for infiltration missions. He approached Ruby's hiding spot, looking for her but not being able to find her because he had lost sight of her. As he got closer to the bush Ruby was in, she jumped out, swinging her scythe like a giant bat, using the blunt end of it to knock him out. He fell to the ground, incapacitated. Ruby let out a sigh.

That was over. Now she could head back to help Cinder. There was no way Ruby was going to let her fight that evil woman by herself. Picking up Mercury's body and hauling it over her shoulder she began to race back the way she had come, reminding herself to pick up Emerald's unconscious body too. Ruby had knocked out the girl before, leaving her tied up to a tree in case she woke up.

Ruby didn't know how long the mind control semblance worked but she wasn't going to take any risks. She would have to tie them back up. She was only lucky that Emerald hadn't been able to use her semblance or else that would have been a difficult fight. One in which Ruby would have had to severely hurt the green haired woman in.

* * *

"Whoa!" Qrow managed to duck down before the bullet fired from the umbrella. Instead it hit the wall a couple of feet behind him. "That almost got me! Pretty young ladies like you shouldn't fire such dangerous things into people's mouths!" Qrow rubbed his throat, that call too close to his liking.

The small girl didn't say anything. She just aimed her umbrella at him once more and tried to fire at him. Qrow evaded all the bullets, running this way and that. But he hadn't forgotten about the red haired man with the cane. Said man came flying at him, swinging his cane around like a madman. Qrow expertly blocked the blow, using the fight to maneuver the man's body around so that the two of them were never still or far enough from one another that the girl could shoot him without shooting her friend. She noticed this and relented from firing the bullets, instead opting for a short range attack. Now Qrow had a cane and an umbrella being swung at him, with the occasional spray of bullets or explosions ( just great, the cane worked as long range too) aimed at him when the chance arose.

He was able to dodge most if not deflect them but then he felt someone push him-and he looked back to see it was Watts- and ended up right in the blast radius. Qrow stumbled as a blast ruptured the floor underneath his feet and sent him back into some Dust crates. He coughed as dust filled the air, obscuring his vision. There was the sound of a large swish and flick and then the drop of something heavy. When he got back up he saw Ruby was standing in place of where his two opponents had been. There was now knocked out and tied up to one of the pillars in the warehouse.

"Hey uncle Qrow, taking a nap?" she asked, beaming up at him. She genuinely thought he had been when she arrived here not three seconds ago via her semblance.

"You know me Ruby, so cool that I take naps during battles because I know no one can harm me," he said, dusting himself off. He knew he shouldn't be encouraging Ruby's disillusions about how cool he was. She already thought he was the best thing since sliced bread, doing all these awesome things during battle when in reality he just stumbled into them by accident. Like the time he took down a super mega evil sky fortress by accident because he had been flying as a crow and gotten sucked into the engine, destroying it and causing the fortress to lose altitude and crash down.

But everyone and their mother had thought he had done it on purpose.

Not that he was going to correct their thinking. He got a lot of ladies and free drinks this way.

"You ruined my playthings," Watt's sniffed coldly, coming up from the shadows where he had been waiting.

"That's the guy," Ruby growled, her eyes flashing. "The one who mind controlled my gang!" Ruby cared a lot about her members, and she wasn't going to let someone else control them. That was her job as leader!

"It's okay, Rubes. I'll get him. You go focus on helping out Cinder."

"Yes, just like you have been 'getting me' for the past hour," Watts sniffed haughtily, doing air quotes.

"I would have, if you weren't a coward and had to hide behind your minions backs."

That seemed to draw a reaction out of Watts. The vein in his forehead popped and he reached behind his back to fetch his weapon.

* * *

Blake watched from up in the rafters as Adam and Tyrian went at it, both men sweating profusely from this battle. Adam was angrily growling at his opponent in frustration by how long this was taking, while Tyrian just giggled gleefully, enjoying this fight way too much. "More! More!" he begged and Adam snarled out, "shut up!"

Should she help Adam out? Adam hated having people fight his fights for him, but this thing was taking too long and they were supposed to be out of here already with the tail in their grasp. She chomped thoughtfully on the sandwich she had found in Hazel's pockets. It was a bit warm but it was tuna fish salad. She had to admit, the man had great taste in food.

As she continued watching the struggle, she decided it wouldn't hurt if she helped out just a teensy bit, and using her ribbons, she quietly and slowly slid one onto the floor, right next to Tyrian's foot. The material wrapped around his ankle and pulled him back just gently enough that he stumbled a bit in his next lunge forwards. She retreated it quickly before anyone could notice and Adam took the chance to make his move. Parrying one of Tyrian's wrist blades with his sheathe, Adam did a spin, the scorpion faunus now utilizing his tail and aiming at the bull faunus. The spin saved Adam from being stung, the stinger passing by his back harmlessly as he raised his blade and swung down on the extended member.

Tyrian let out a scream of pain as he dropped to his knees, sniveling. "No, my tail!" He wailed. The cut off member was wriggling about on the floor, leaking poison.

"Oh shut up," Adam growled, planting his blade straight through the unguarded man's throat. "You talk too much."

Tyrian's eyes bulged out as he tried to speak but couldn't with all that metal, blood pooling out of his mouth. His eyes rolled up into the back of his head and when Adam pulled the sword out, the dead man collapsed forwards.

Adam carefully picked up the tail, a manic grin stretching his lips. With this new tool in his arsenal, he would be unstoppable! "Blake!" he called out and a second later the cat faunus was by his side.

"It's time to go home," he said and with that the two of them left.

* * *

Cinder hit the ground hard, her Glass Silence skidding away from her. She tried to get back up to get it, but a loud snap stopped her, followed by a thin burning line of pain on her back.

"You should be grateful I am doing all this for you!" Salem hissed out and her words were followed by another bright line of pain on Cinder's back, forcing her back down to the ground. "I gave you everything- the tools you needed, the path and determination, the motivation, for you to become one of the most feared leaders! And when I take the burden off of your hands, and open up your way to live a life with your love, you repay me by acting like a spoiled brat and try to get both! You can't have everything in life Cinder. You have to choose!" Two more loud snaps and Cinder grit her teeth. She wasn't going to give this woman the satisfaction of hearing her scream. She just had to keep inching forwards so she could get her weapon and shut this woman up!

"I'm not going to choose from options you have given me! And fuck your rules! I own this town, I can take life and I can give it, so I most certainly can do whatever I want, have whatever I want!"

"Looks like I'll have to punish you until you stop acting like a little child," Salem threatened, the whip in her hand now glowing red. That couldn't be a good sign.

But before she could so much as swing it, a sharp blade found its way into her chest.

Salem looked down quietly at the curved blade, her own peaceful reflection in the bloody metal. Cinder took this distraction to stumbled to her feet and grab Glass Silence. "Ruby?" she said in a horrified whisper. "Ruby, what are you doing here?" The small brunette was standing behind Salem, a wide smile on her face.

"I wanted to help you. I didn't want you to fight alone."

"But I'm not. I have Qrow and-"

"That's not what I meant." Ruby shook her head, twisting the blade painfully in Salem's chest and this time a gasp of pain left her lips as one hand came up as if it could somehow push the intrusion back out. "You always fight Salem alone. I can tell she...scares you, and I don't want you to face scary things alone." The body on Ruby's blade was getting heavier and she hefted the blade up higher before letting the woman slide off of it and onto the floor. A pool of red surrounded her as she gasped and panted, hands clawing as she tried to breathe.

"Salem!" an anguished cry broke out of Watt's mouth and he was running towards them, Qrow hot on his trial. The well dressed man threw something out, and Ruby was ready to knock it out of the air when she realized it wasn't aimed at her, but the crates behind them.

"Cinder move!" Ruby cried out when she realized what it was, and with a burst of speed, she moved them out of the way. The highly explosive Dust crates combusted and if they had stayed there, they would have been toast by now.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, letting go of her tight hold on Cinder when the woman hissed in pain.

"I'm fine. It's only a couple of whip wounds. I think their bleeding." Cinder could feel the stickiness of blood coating her back.

Another loud explosion rocked the warehouse and both girls ducked down as wood went flying. "We need to leave asap," Ruby informed. "The fire's only going to spread and set off more Dust crates."

"No, you go."

"What?!" Ruby's mouth gaped open at that insane request.

"I still have something to finish," Cinder growled out, eyeing Salem's prone form. Watts was by her side, lifting her into his arms.

"But she's as good as dead. She'll bleed out in a few more minutes."

"No. She's survived death once, I can't trust that she won't survive it a second time. I won't be satisfied until I render her limb from limb!" Cinder's eyes flashed darkly and Ruby was concerned by how much hatred she saw in them.

There was another explosion, closer this time to them.

"What do we do?" Qrow asked over the noise. He had come up to join them. He wouldn't strike an enemy that had their back to him. It was cowardly. Watts was in no state to fight them. He was struggling to get Salem up, his brows furrowed in worry.

"Uncle Qrow, get Roman and Neo out of here. Their tied up somewhere down there," Ruby pointed vaguely. "We'll meet you outside."

"Got it." Qrow went off.

"I'll meet you outside," Cinder corrected.

"Cinder no."

The dark haired woman lunged forwards but Ruby wrapped two strong arms around her waist, wary of aggravating the older woman's wounds. "Ruby let me go! I have to finish her off!"

"Cinder it's too dangerous. We can look for her afterwards."

"There won't be a body to find afterwards. If we don't leave now, we'll never find her again until she wants us to!" Cinder struggled valiantly, watching in concern and panic as Watts dragged Salem's body further away.

"Cinder I care more about you! Please, I don't want you to risk your life over her. Please, let's just go."

A giant explosion rocked the warehouse this time. It was so big it threw both women to their feet and knocked a portion of the roof down, officially blocking Cinder from following after Watts. Ruby pulled Cinder and got the two of them out just in time. The warehouse collapsed in on itself with a loud groan.

"You think they got away?" Qrow asked, dropping down an unconscious Roman and Neo to the ground.

"I hope not," Ruby said. She looked over at Cinder whose eyes were cold and distant as if she was somewhere else mentally. Somewhere terrible.

"Even if they didn't, it doesn't matter. She _will_ be back." Cinder turned on her heel and walked off, fuming with anger and worry.

* * *

 _Two days later_

Everything had more or less returned to normal. Ruby and Cinder were both reinstated leaders of the Grimm, their operations were back to running smoothly, all mind control victims had returned back to their regular minds, and Cinder was recovering from her whip injuries. The only thing that hadn't changed was Cinder's anger at Ruby.

"You should have let me get her. I could have killed her and gotten out in time," Cinder argued when Ruby raised the topic for the third time.

"Cinder no. You know that wasn't a realistic opportunity," Ruby shook her head. "Besides, I didn't want to see you waste your life on killing her. She's not worth it. We'll find another way. Another day, to fight and finally destroy her." Ruby tried to plead and beg with her girlfriend, pulling her into a hug. Cinder was stiff in her hold.

"It's selfish of you," Ruby mumbled into Cinder's chest as the older woman's hand unconsciously delved into red brown locks.

"What is?"

"You wanting to die for her. You're only supposed to do that for people you love." Ruby pouted, shooting Cinder her best puppy dog eyes.

There was no way anyone could resist that look, and Cinder found a bit of her anger melting away. Ruby was right. She was maybe a bit too obsessed on the point of Salem. Maybe Salem's survival had been a fluke last time. Maybe she was dead this time? But no, something told her she wasn't.

"Are you jealous, Ruby?" Cinder teased.

"You spend so much time thinking about her, it's almost like you _like_ her," Ruby huffed and Cinder couldn't resist putting a warm kiss on the shorter girl's forehead.

"The only one I love is you. I'm sorry I was upset at you. But I was just worried. Salem is an incredibly conniving and resourceful woman. I don't want her harming you."

"She won't. She won't be harming anyone, because I'll be protecting you and you'll be protecting me." Ruby smiled sweetly, nuzzling under Cinder's chin.

Ruby's warm words made Cinder's heart swell with false hope. False hope because she knew if Salem really wanted something, there was no stopping her. But for now, she'd allow herself to hope. Then, she'd get to planning a counter strike in this secret war, because she swore to herself she wouldn't get Ruby caught up in that woman's vile schemes.

* * *

"Where did it go!?" Adam howled out in anger and distraught, all the faunus scientists in the underground White Fang lab around him wincing at his volume. "It was right here. Right fucking here!" He pointed in accusation at the now empty spot where the stinger had once been. The tail had been his hope for a better future for faunus, for a more powerful future, and now it was gone! Who had taken it?!

With a scream he fell to his knees and began to hit the floor angrily. "Blake, go find them for me." The silent figure nodded her head from the shadows but even she couldn't find results this time. For an even an assassin cannot find a thief.

"I've secured the tail," Emerald told Cinder through the scroll as she shouldered the bag and went on with her day, dressed casually for a warm day out and looking not at all like she had done a daring raid into the heart of White Fang territory. She had already slipped the perimeters of the gang hideout and was on the street looking at some wares.

"Excellent. Report back to base so we can dispose of it." Cinder wasn't going to let Adam have it, no matter the deal. He was a megalomaniac. And she didn't want the tail either, too many bad memories of what it had done to Ruby still attached to her mind for her to want to use it as a weapon no matter how useful it would be.

"Roger." Emerald pocketed the scroll, smiling to herself as Adam's cries still rang through the air.

* * *

"I got you the usual," Qrow slid the shot glass over to Ruby who picked it up and downed the milk inside it in one go.

She let out a belch before sighing heavily.

"What's got you down kid?" Qrow asked, taking a sip of his whiskey on the rocks.

"It's Cinder. Even though everything's back to normal, she's still tense. And I'm worried. I don't like seeing her like this," Ruby let her fingers run around the rim of the glass before she raised two fingers. The bar tender sent her another shot her way. She downed that one quickly too, wiping away the milk mustache from it.

"Maybe it's time for a break? Like a vacation?"

Ruby's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea!" Then she sobered up. "But she probably won't want to go, saying she has to be vigilante for Salem."

"Not if you go somewhere warm. Somewhere tropical. Somewhere with...bikinis." Qrow suggested, wiggling his brows.

"Oh, you are evil, uncle," Ruby laughed. There was no way Cinder would turn down another beach day with Ruby. "I'm off to set up some arrangements."

"Let me help," Qrow offered as Ruby jumped out of her seat, bursting with energy. "I know a guy who sells cruises for cheap."

"This is gonna be so much fun!" Ruby cheered. "The Grimm Gang goes vacationing!"

 **A/N:I haven't watched the newest season of Rwby yet, so I have no clue if the bad guys had their powers revealed yet or not, as well as their weapons. So I've made up my own.  
**

 **Next chapter: Vacation! Our villains deserve some rest after all that's happened.**


	27. Chapter 27

_RWBY A Day in the Life of Crime_

 _Chapter Special: Meaning Behind the Mask_

 **A/N: Well, it's been over a year since I updated. Seeing as the last chapter I updated was on the villains taking a vacation, let's pretend that's where they've (and I've) been all year long. The lack of updates has been largely in part to the fact I lost my notes on where I wanted this story to go, and I was just too unmotivated to continue for quite some time.**

 **But, I went through my content and found some unpublished chapters from last year, so I decided I'd post them up to motivate myself to get writing so I can finish this series. Thought it might be interesting to show how the ranking system within the gang works.**

The Grimm gang wore terrifying white masks, distorted animal faces made monstrous. But these masks didn't only serve to frighten their victims and any and all who simply gazed upon them, but they were also a ranking system within the gang. Depending on one's mask they had more power in the gang, as well as more privileges. This system had been devised by Cinder. It was meant to give incentive for her gang members so that they could want to rise through the ranks by training hard, and by working hard. This would ensure she had more powerful gang members, as there were perks that came with the type of mask one wore.

Her system did end up working like she wanted it to, perhaps too well, for soon she was severely lacking those who were supposed to be on the lowest rung of the ladder. So she had to make a few adjustments, make it harder to climb the ranks. Her system helped propel those with power and ambition higher, making it so that her gang had more skilled fighters than any other gang. And to make it even better, she also issued demotions. Thus if one of her workers messed up once too many times he would be knocked down a peg or two. She over saw all these promotions and demotions personally but once her gang got to be too big she had to issue people in her place to take care of such small matters, for she had far more important things to worry about, like keeping her gang running smoothly and spending time with Ruby. It was actually Ruby who wore the top ranking mask in the gang. It made sense, given how she was the gang leader. Cinder had once worn the same mask but had relented it to her girlfriend once the time for the switch of leadership had occurred. Ruby's mask was a Grimm dragon mask, modeled after real life dragons that lived in the forests of Remnant and that flew over the seas to fish for food. The girl rarely wore it, unless it came time for serious battle. Otherwise she rather walk around maskless and fight her opponents that way. The dragon mask was given only to the leader because they were supposed to be as aggressive and dangerous as a dragon themselves, their temper expected to match the fiery breath of the beast. A dragon was also chosen for it had fire capabilities much like Cinder had, but that part of the meaning had been lost when it had been handed down to Ruby.

Cinder than had gone on to don the Grimm Sea Dragon mask. It wasn't an official mask that had existed before but Ruby had insisted on creating the ranking for her. It was meant to represent someone who had once held more power but now was mainly retired from doing criminal activities of the violent and bloody sort. Thus it was a dragon to represent ferocity but a water one, because water was a soothing and calm element meant to show that the wearer of this while still dangerous like a storm at sea, did not use or engage their powers in savage affairs.

Cinder had chuckled when Ruby had first given her the mask. It was beautiful and terrifying like all the Grimm masks, but she knew that the girl was giving her this mask with this meaning in the hopes that Cinder would no longer strive to want to help Ruby on her missions. The girl wanted Cinder to wash her hands off of all gang affairs. Cinder would not, however. For despite Ruby's claims in wanting to save her, she could not completely detach her livelihood from the gang. It ran in her veins, her having spilled gallons of her own blood in order to make it run. It powered her muscles, her having to toughen her flesh to get the results she wanted. It beat with every heartbeat of hers, her heart and soul invested in the very results and lives of those in the gang. And Ruby was here too. There was no way she was going to leave the girl's side at any cost. If they were going to quite the gang they were going to do it both, and it didn't seem like Ruby wanted to quit any time soon therefore Cinder wasn't going to either.

After Cinder's mask, a mask that gave her much sway over the gang but which signaled to others that she should be guarded and protected from leaving to fight in gang battles, was the the Nuckelavee mask. This mask was reserved for the gang's commanders- men and woman who had proven themselves countless times in battle to be strategic masterminds and powerhouses in their own right. There were eight of them and they governed over their own portions of the Grimm gang. They reported to Cinder their course of actions and plans (despite Ruby being the leader, she wasn't exactly good with this kind of stuff, so Cinder, as the vice leader would take care of the matters that Ruby dubbed as 'boring' so the girl could take to formulating plans and eating cookies) but they also had underlings that controlled the even smaller divisions of the eight so called Grimm armies, for the gang was certainly big enough to have their own armies now. And those who worked under the Nuckelavee were called King Taijitu's, running around and doing errands in keeping the armies together when the time came that such armies were needed, which wasn't often thankfully.

And in the armies themselves, there were several more ranking systems, mainly based on the physical power of the workers. There were Goliath's, Beringel's, Boarbatusk's, Beowolf's and lastly Ursa's, ranked from most powerful to least powerful. Ursa's were those commonly referred to as the lowest of the lowest rank, and they were basically Grimm gang grunt's, doing the worst tasks. Ursa's didn't have specific tasks to them and sometimes they could enter an entirely different field, for everyone who joined the gang at first would end up an Ursa. If they proved to be only good at physical labor they would rise the ranks through in the physical department. If they did not have a proclivity for such laborious activities then they would be sent to other sections of the gang such as financing, espionage, information proliferation or interrogating.

There were of course other ranks that did not fall in between these rankings for the people who wore them weren't known for their physical strength but for their cunning and sneakery. There were Creep's, those who were into keeping tabs on all the information running in and out of the city. There were Geist's, those who conducted espionage and infiltration into other gang's or law enforcement or governmental stations. A Geist outranked even the King Taijitu's given how dangerous and secretive their line of work was. Creep's, however, were barely above Beowolf's since their line of work was by no means dangerous, still they provided valuable information.

Those who wore the Death Stalker masks also were in their own category. They were the one's who were known for their chemicals and for their poisons. They often worked together with the Geist's as their field of work required them not to be on the forefront of the fighting necessarily but to be more in the behind the scenes. Death Stalker's were roughly on the same level as Beringel's for they were the scientists of the gang and vital to forming the weapons, not just poisons, although that was their field of expertise, and held words of importance and knowledge to be given when it came time to designing new weapons for the Grimm gang members to use. Cinder often pushed them to make weapons whose designs had never been done before. And when they did their work she would keep the results locked up after mass producing them, for she did not want to reveal their secret weapons just on some low level and everyday activity such as robbing a store. No, let the city think the gang only used common marketplace weapons. But when the time really came, then all the Grimm designed weapons and poisons would be sprung free to cause untold devastation.

Lastly, there were three more rankings. These ranking were neither physical or intelligence. They were more of the odds and ends bits of the gangs.

The one who wore the mask of the Seer was one who was an interrogator of the gang. They would take the victims that the gang had kidnapped and get the answers Cinder wanted out of them. Wearing this mask meant that the person under it was good with words, with understanding the mental processing of the person they were interrogating in order to get the best results. Cinder made sure only to hire the best of the best. All of her interrogators could out smart and out speak anyone, even her occasionally, something she had to be careful of for these people could even out manipulate her sometimes.

One such exception was Neo. She was the top interrogator, yet she did not utter a single word in order to achieve that rank. Just alone with her appearance and the looks and body language she utilized in the interrogation room she was able to get results. It was a mystery how she even did it. When Cinder had gone to see the interrogation one day, she herself had felt a little scared of Neo and had to leave early, even though all the girl had done in the ten minutes Cinder was there was cross her arms over her chest and then uncross them some time later.

The only conclusion Cinder could come to was that the lack of conversation, that the silence was what was more terrifying than being yelled at and thus it made the person so uncomfortable they started to babble. For even the toughest cracked under the heavy absence of words.

Neo's friend Roman, was in a different field from her. He was involved with finances, a section of workers which wore the mask of the Griffon, for although the man found them boring he had an exceptionally sharp mind when it came to numbers. He could find the best ways to save money or to cut back on costs that Cinder couldn't have even begun to notice. He was also good in investing in the stock market and doubling the money they already had. With him on Cinder's side he ensured the gang's coffer's were overflowing with money. The hefty paychecks the working members received was often enough to draw the attention of people who wanted money and didn't care how it came to be.

For those new people who were interested in joining the gang, they were simply called pests for the time being until they could undergo the tests of loyalty, courage and bravery that awaited them before they could become full fledged members. It was the people who wore the Wasp mask that oversaw these inductions and initiations, and who weeded out the weak and saved the strong. For those member's accepted they became Ursa's ready to rise through the ranks.

And the final rank to touch upon was the Nevermore rank which simply consisted of people that carried messages and fetched things for other's, sort of like secretary's. The Golith's had their own, the King Taijitu's had their own, and so did the Nuckelavee's. This ranking was very low, almost at Beowolf level, except for the two people known as Mercury and Emerald. They were Cinder's and Ruby's personal assistants and thus when they wore the mask of the Nevermore everyone knew that their ranking was different from the other Nevermore's, for they had the power to boss the other members of their section around.

This system ranking worked very well for Cinder. It was efficient, it motivated others, and most importantly it got her the results she wanted.


End file.
